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ABSTRACT
Scholarly disagreements over the applicability of a colonial framework to Ireland’s relationship with Britain have neglected how political actors perceived or used ideas about colonialism and imperialism. This article argues that how such ideas resonated and were used in the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ is as worthy of consideration as their validity. It examines how militant republicans conceived of Northern Ireland as having a colonial status and identified it as fitting into a broader pattern of decolonisation, seeking links with other anti-colonial forces outside Europe. It considers how a section of British politicians used the colonial framework to argue that British withdrawal was inevitable, viewing unionists as a settler community beyond the boundaries of Britishness. The dominant British discourse that opposed this framed self-determination differently, rejecting the utility of colonialism as an explanation of the dynamic of the conflict. When faced with charges of colonialism abroad, however, the rebuttal offered by those articulating this discourse had to be tailored to a suspicious international audience; the arguments available to British diplomats were narrowed by Britain’s colonial past. To overcome this, the unionist cause was omitted and select Irish voices within constitutional nationalism were promoted. Colonial analogies and comparisons shaped overall thinking on Northern Ireland, whether they were valid or not.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Bourke, Peace in Ireland: the war of ideas, pp 33–5.
2 O’Leary, A Treatise on Northern Ireland, volume I, p. 109.
3 Ibid, 123–5, 130.
4 Kenny, Ireland and the British Empire, p. 2.
5 Jeffery, Aspects of Ireland and the British Empire, 1.
6 Comerford, Ireland: Inventing the nation, 77.
7 Connolly, The making of modern Irish history: revisionism and the revisionist controversy, 26.
8 O’Leary, A Treatise on Northern Ireland, volume I, p. 130.
9 McGarry and O’Leary, Explaining Northern Ireland: broken images; Ruane and Todd, The Dynamics of Conflict in Northern Ireland: power, conflict and emancipation; Guelke, Northern Ireland: the international perspective and Lustick, Unsettled states, disputed lands; McGarry (ed.), Northern Ireland and the Divided World: Post-Agreement Northern Ireland in Comparative Perspective.
10 English, History of Political Thought, 555.
11 Patterson, The politics of illusion: a political history of the IRA, 101–2.
12 Hanley and Millar, The lost revolution: the story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party.
13 Hanley, Irish Historical Studies, 671–87.
14 Hanley and Millar, The lost revolution, 180.
15 Howe, Ireland and empire: colonial legacies in Irish history and culture, 172.
16 White, Out of the ashes: an oral history of the Provisional republican movement, pp 33–4.
17 An Phoblacht, February 1970.
18 An Phoblacht, March 1970.
19 An Phoblacht, May 1971.
20 Republican News, June 1971; Republican News, September-October 1970; Republican News, November-December 1970; Republican News, December-January 1971; Republican News, January-February 1971.
21 Republican News, January-February 1971.
22 Republican News, July 1971.
23 An Phoblacht, September 1972.
24 Republican News, 1 September 1973.
25 Republican News, 6 March 1976.
26 Republican News, 8 June 1974.
27 McKittrick, Feeney, Kelters, McVea, and Thornton, Lost lives: the stories of the men, women and children who died as a result of the Northern Ireland troubles, 64–78.
28 Stewart, Parliamentary Debates, cols 1889-91.
29 Ibid, col. 1896.
30 Dixon, Contemporary Record, 147–87.
31 Crossman, Parliamentary debates, cols 242–44.
32 Ibid, cols 244–7.
33 Crossman, Parliamentary debates, cols 308–11.
34 Wilson, Parliamentary debates, col. 22.
35 Wilson, Parliamentary debates, cols 1571–92.
36 Rees, Ibid, col. 1665.
37 Diary transcript, undated (1975), London School of Economics, Merlyn Rees papers, MERLYN-REES/1/6, 36–7.
38 Rees, Parliamentary debates, col. 51.
39 Rees, Parliamentary debates, col. 575.
40 Heffer, Parliamentary debates, col. 1798.
41 Kaufman, Ibid, cols 1809–10.
42 Kaufman, Parliamentary debates, cols 833–4.
43 ‘Text of broadcast made by Harold Wilson on 25 May 1974’ (cain.ulst.ac.uk, accessed 20 May 2021).
44 Lee, Parliamentary debates, col. 689.
45 Abse, Ibid, cols 658–9.
46 Dalyell, Parliamentary debates, col. 1994.
47 Dalyell, Parliamentary debates, col. 1994.
48 Fitt, Ibid, cols 2018–19.
49 Dalyell, Parliamentary debates, col. 1255.
50 Wilson to Armstrong, 29 May 1974, The National Archives (TNA), PREM 16/148.
51 Aveyard, No Solution, 120–1.
52 Rees to Wilson, 30 January 1976, TNA, PREM 16/960; Wright to Stewart, 17 February 1976, TNA, PREM 16/961.
53 Lowry, ‘An Irish empire’?, p. 201
54 Ibid, pp 207–9.
55 Howe, Ireland and the British Empire, pp 240–1.
56 Molyneaux, Parliamentary debates, col. 1450; Molyneaux, Parliamentary debates, cols 572-3.
57 Powell, Parliamentary debates, col. 275.
58 Paisley, Parliamentary debates, cols 824–5.
59 Walker, Intimate strangers.
60 Walker, A history of the Ulster Unionist Party: protest, pragmatism and pessimism, 225–6.
61 Robinson (Algiers) to FCO London, 16 September 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834.
62 Hodge to Hill, 5 January 1977, TNA, CJ4/1834.
63 Ruairí Ó Brádaigh to Col. H. Mbita, 9 August 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834.
64 Knight Smith to Harding, 20 September 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834.
65 Robinson to Harding, 20 September 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834.
66 Harding to Bourn, 23 September 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834.
67 Hickman to Harding, 30 September 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834.
68 Jones to Burns, 6 October 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834.
69 Irish Times, 18 October 1976.
70 Rosling to Hodge, 22 November 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834; Crosland (London) to All OAU posts (except Kampala), 7 December 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834.
71 Kinshasa, Lusaka and Tunis telegrams, 8 December 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834; Lagos, Maseru, Rabat, Monrovia and Abidjan telegrams, 9 December 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834; Cairo and Nairobi telegrams, 10 December 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834; Gaborone telegram, 14 December 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834.
72 Lewen to Harding, 10 December 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834.
73 Mogadishu telegram, 12 December 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834.
74 Addis Ababa telegram, 20 December 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834.
75 Mallet to Bourn, 29 December 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834.
76 The Provisional IRA and Third World Movements, December 1976, TNA, CJ4/1834.
77 Ibid.
78 Ibid.
79 Henderson to Abbott, 5 January 1977, TNA, CJ4/1834.
80 Bourn to Mallet, 14 January 1977, TNA, CJ4/1834.
81 The Provisional IRA and Third World Movements, January 1977, TNA, CJ4/1834.
82 Jeffery, ‘The road to Asia, and the Grafton hotel’, 255.