Just Finished Reading: Making Sense of The Troubles – A History of the Northern Ireland Conflict by David McKittrick and David McVea (FP: 2000/2012)

I was 8 years old when what euphemistically became known as The Troubles began. Fortunately as a catholic I lived on the other side of the Irish Sea and so wasn’t ever directly involved. What would have happened to me if I’d been born in Northern Ireland doesn’t really bear thinking about. There but for the Grace of God and all that jazz…

Of course the outbreak of violence from 1968 onwards until the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 was a long time coming which probably explained its depth and ultimate longevity. Since Northern Ireland was hived off from the rest of Ireland in 1921-22 (of which more later in subsequent books on the region) the situation was stable in appearance only. With the domination of the Six Counties by a solid Protestant majority the Catholic minority, increasingly marginalised, could only suffer in silence or revolt. In the spirit of the 1960’s and following on the idea from MLK in America they chose revolt in the form of Civil Rights demonstrations, rent strikes and other political activities. With tensions already high in both communities violence ensued and televised exploits of the mostly Protestant police force made things worse. Violence, as violence does, spread. Feeling themselves to be at a distinct disadvantage the minority Catholic community responded positively to a pledge from the younger members of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) to protect them. So began the cycle of killing, bombing and reprisals that characterised the North on and off for the next 30 years.

I remembered many of the incidents and atrocities catalogued in this often gripping account of those terrible years. I remembered many of the names of those involved too as well as watching almost nightly on the TV as the British Army struggled to control things – or at least keep the violence down to what one politician called ‘an acceptable level’. One consequence of this was that the British are amongst the best urban combat troops in the world as they proved in both Iraq and Afghanistan. History is full of such ironies. Of course what I, indeed what no one, was aware of at the time was that the much talked about ‘we don’t talk to terrorists’ rhetoric was just that. The British government had actually been talking to the IRA and Protestant organisations for decades to try to come to a peaceful resolution. It did eventually happen after much blood had been spilt and much damage done but we do now seem to be in a much better position than ever before. What violence there is has dropped to a low level almost unimaginable only a decade before.

As you might imagine from an attempt to be as even handed as possible to all those involved no one really comes out exactly smelling of roses. There’s certainly enough fault to spread around and enough people still alive for it to be laid at their door. Likewise some of those same people were instrumental in creating, developing and finally achieving an acceptable peace process that all sides could sign up to. Maybe it was simply that everyone (or most of those involved) became sick and tired of the continuing violence and just wanted it to stop – and stop it eventually did.

This was not exactly the UK’s best moment. I grew up with bombs and bomb scares, with explosions going off across London and other areas whilst I worked there. I remember vividly how my train pulling into London missed a bomb by two platforms and 10 minutes one morning while on another occasion I walked past a pub on my way to work at 8:30 that morning only to have a bomb go off inside four hours later. Tense just doesn’t cover it. I sometimes think of those carefree days when if you left a bag unattended for too long it was likely to be pinched. These days such a bag would cause a security alert and if you got it back would likely be in pieces after being destroyed by the Security Services. Definitely a book for anyone who ever wondered what the Troubles were all about. Recommended.