One of the most puzzling and disappointing situations in the world today is the
seemingly endless spiral of violence in Northern Ireland. The Provisional Irish
Republican Army (PIRA) was formed in 1970 as a breakaway offshoot of the old
Irish Republican Army (IRA). Militants from Belfast formed the PIRA because the
older IRA proved incapable of defending Catholic communities from roving bands
of Protestants or attacks from Northern Ireland police.
Initially, the
PIRA was formed as a neighborhood protection association, but as this case
illustrates, it evolved into one of the most enduring and resilient terrorist
groups the world has seen—ironically with the unintentional assistance of the
British security forces.
This case analyzes the "ritualistic" nature of
terrorism by the PIRA and counterterrorism by the British authorities. Special
attention is given to the meaning of nationalism, justification of the use of
force, and sociological factors that contribute to the cycle of "justice" and
"revenge."
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