Were the IRA totally bad?
I am talking about the IRA as a whole and not just splinter cells like the PIRA and OIRA.
I never did history at school and while I was born in Ireland I've no clear idea who's opinions to trust. So if anyone would care to explain it to me can you do it simply as I'm not stupid but not really up to speed with the details.
As I recall they wanted a united Ireland but the people in northern Ireland mainly wanted to be a part of the uk.
The British troops attacked civilians as much as the IRA and so while not being justified, it certainly wasn't clear cut.
what makes the IRA terrorists but the british government not.
Can you also explain how religion came in to it.
I never did history at school and while I was born in Ireland I've no clear idea who's opinions to trust. So if anyone would care to explain it to me can you do it simply as I'm not stupid but not really up to speed with the details.
As I recall they wanted a united Ireland but the people in northern Ireland mainly wanted to be a part of the uk.
The British troops attacked civilians as much as the IRA and so while not being justified, it certainly wasn't clear cut.
what makes the IRA terrorists but the british government not.
Can you also explain how religion came in to it.
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Yes I would see that as totally bad obviously. I see what you mean about the cause pursued through violence.
Did they start off as freedom fighters though, that's a good thing right? Or does the fact they went for it using violence negate the good intentions.
What I mean is the original army, were they bad or not.
The British gov did kill innocents too.
The only difference between a freedom fighter and a terrorist is whose side you're on.
Are you sure? I don't think freedom fighters kill children.
http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/troubles/troubles_stats.html
The problem with opinions is that you will get differing information from people on both sides of the community.
Are you talking about the original army led by Michael Collins? In that case I would say they were freedom fighters in the same way that the Americans in the war of Independence were
They do it quite often, once you start shooting and bombing there is very little chance of that not happening on whatever side you are on.
Although it greatly simplifies a complex, gray area of morality, I guess at a basic level, terrorism involves deliberately targeting civilians as part of a campaign.... something the later version of the IRA often did
Depends on your point of view... Is the death of a combatant in a civil war considered murder?
I know, that's what I hear too when my friend said the IRA weren't totally bad.
I don't have a problem with concluding that al Qaeda are totally bad unless they have a charity bake sale division tucked away somewhere.
He said that without the IRA the British would have taken Ireland.
Were the ira always terrorists then or not. I can't get my head around it.
A lot depends on how you define a civil war. Is Syria in the middle of a civil war and did Libya have a civil war last year? Was the IRA in a civil war or at war with another country and was it a genuine war or an insurgency? Nothing is clear cut and definable.
Errr... not sure what he means... the British already had Ireland at that point.
Arguably the IRAs actions led to Home Rule and the Republics independence at that time... although I think it would have happened after WW2 in a less violent manner anyway
It's termed academically as the Irish Civil War... but I take your point.
Your friend needs to do research. Ireland was part of the UK until the 1920s and then it split into Eire and NI as 6 counties wanted to remain in the UK. Why would the British have then retaken Ireland?
Indeed, many of the unarmed civilians shot by the British Army on Bloody Sunday were children.
They are terrorists.
Well specifically what he said was that the Ira fought for ireland, without them there would be no republic. Which is as you say there.
It was the PIRA and OIRA that committed "acts of terrorism" and that it was a war against a force that invaded them and the IRA had legitimate concerns.
That's interesting about the war, I've seen things about how the south didn't fight in the war or helped the Germans even.