Communicative rather than coercive : re-interpreting the strategies of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and the state up till the hunger strike of 1981 during the Northern Irish troubles

This paper attempts to reframe the strategies taken by the Provisional Irish Army Republicans (PIRA) during the Northern Irish conflict (1966-1999) as communicative strategies. The most dramatic success came through the Hunger Strike of 1981, in which the first hunger striker Bobby Sands was elected...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ho, Hui Qi
Other Authors: Scott M. Anthony
Format: Final Year Project (FYP)
Language:English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/69768
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author Ho, Hui Qi
author2 Scott M. Anthony
author_facet Scott M. Anthony
Ho, Hui Qi
author_sort Ho, Hui Qi
collection NTU
description This paper attempts to reframe the strategies taken by the Provisional Irish Army Republicans (PIRA) during the Northern Irish conflict (1966-1999) as communicative strategies. The most dramatic success came through the Hunger Strike of 1981, in which the first hunger striker Bobby Sands was elected to Westminster as a Member of Parliament. Thus, it may be argued that instead of determining the success of the PIRA as built upon coercive tactics against the state, the PIRA was compelled to split its energies from militant activism to maintain goodwill amongst the lay public. This latent support within the Community allowed it to bolster its claims of legitimacy and to mitigate the representations of violence engendered by its militant activism. By splitting its energies on non-militant activism, its success lies in creating a shared sense of affinity with the Catholic communities against the abuses of the state. Through the act of “community policing,” and the maintenance of an in-house newspaper publication, these laid the foundations for the successful mobilisation of mass support during the Hunger Strike in 1981.
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spelling ntu-10356/697682019-12-10T11:38:04Z Communicative rather than coercive : re-interpreting the strategies of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and the state up till the hunger strike of 1981 during the Northern Irish troubles Ho, Hui Qi Scott M. Anthony School of Humanities and Social Sciences DRNTU::Humanities This paper attempts to reframe the strategies taken by the Provisional Irish Army Republicans (PIRA) during the Northern Irish conflict (1966-1999) as communicative strategies. The most dramatic success came through the Hunger Strike of 1981, in which the first hunger striker Bobby Sands was elected to Westminster as a Member of Parliament. Thus, it may be argued that instead of determining the success of the PIRA as built upon coercive tactics against the state, the PIRA was compelled to split its energies from militant activism to maintain goodwill amongst the lay public. This latent support within the Community allowed it to bolster its claims of legitimacy and to mitigate the representations of violence engendered by its militant activism. By splitting its energies on non-militant activism, its success lies in creating a shared sense of affinity with the Catholic communities against the abuses of the state. Through the act of “community policing,” and the maintenance of an in-house newspaper publication, these laid the foundations for the successful mobilisation of mass support during the Hunger Strike in 1981. Bachelor of Arts 2017-03-25T06:34:49Z 2017-03-25T06:34:49Z 2017 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/69768 en Nanyang Technological University 58 p. application/pdf
spellingShingle DRNTU::Humanities
Ho, Hui Qi
Communicative rather than coercive : re-interpreting the strategies of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and the state up till the hunger strike of 1981 during the Northern Irish troubles
title Communicative rather than coercive : re-interpreting the strategies of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and the state up till the hunger strike of 1981 during the Northern Irish troubles
title_full Communicative rather than coercive : re-interpreting the strategies of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and the state up till the hunger strike of 1981 during the Northern Irish troubles
title_fullStr Communicative rather than coercive : re-interpreting the strategies of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and the state up till the hunger strike of 1981 during the Northern Irish troubles
title_full_unstemmed Communicative rather than coercive : re-interpreting the strategies of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and the state up till the hunger strike of 1981 during the Northern Irish troubles
title_short Communicative rather than coercive : re-interpreting the strategies of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and the state up till the hunger strike of 1981 during the Northern Irish troubles
title_sort communicative rather than coercive re interpreting the strategies of the provisional irish republican army pira and the state up till the hunger strike of 1981 during the northern irish troubles
topic DRNTU::Humanities
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/69768
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