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In war, the IRA are quite ordinary killers. Do they have what it takes to make the peace?

BY ROS DAVIDSON | when British Prime Minister Tony Blair shook hands with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams in Northern Ireland last week, he made history. The simple act signified the first official meeting between representatives of the British government and political representatives of the outlawed Irish Republican Army in 76 years.
The meeting was the a milestone in the fragile peace process aimed at bringing an end to "The Troubles" in the torn province. That the process still has many more miles to go was evident from the jostling and shouts of "traitor" that greeted Blair after the handshake. For many Protestants, talking to Sinn Fein is the same as appeasing IRA murderers with blood still on their hands.
Salon spoke with British television reporter Peter Taylor, who has covered the conflict in Northern Ireland for 25 years for the BBC and commercial television. Taylor is the chief reporter of "Behind the Mask," a "Frontline" two-hour special to be broadcast Tuesday on many PBS stations. The author of an upcoming book of the same name, Taylor gained unprecedented access to members of the Republican movement, including former key "Provos" engaged in the struggle, and was able to produce a detailed account of what lay behind the fratricidal "Troubles" of the past 30 years.
The "Frontline" documentary is based on a four-part series that just finished on the BBC in Britain. Given the amount of play you give to actual IRA members, were you howled down like Tony Blair was when he went to Belfast?
We had the predictable criticisms in the beginning about giving terrorists the oxygen of publicity, of being insensitive in our timing, jeopardizing the talks and all that kind of nonsense. But it died away. Most people I think were drawn into the series for what it was -- an attempt to relate the remarkable evolution of the IRA, from nothing in '69 to where they are now today. I was really gratified by the huge number of people who said it had helped them understand what was going on and why.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the documentary is the amount of access you had with the IRA. We're behind IRA guns, at private meetings, witnessing a training session in bomb-building, inside the Maze prison, watching an FBI videotape of a sting involving IRA arms buyers. Have viewers in Britain or the U.S. ever seen this detail before?
No, never. I made a documentary inside the Maze prison in 1990, which was the first time people had seen IRA members talk the way they really did, and without their masks on. Most of the people on "Behind the Mask" had never been interviewed before. The Republican movement was, to say the least, a little nervous they would say something they shouldn't. But in fact what they did was absolutely straight. Which is the great strength of the series.
In what way?
It's not intended to be judgmental. It's judgmental in as much that I do not approve of people planting bombs that blow people to pieces on Bloody Friday (July 21, 1972, when the IRA planted 26 car bombs all over Belfast, killing nine people and injuring 130). But it's not judgmental in the sense of saying that the IRA are a bunch of murdering bastards, they're thugs, they're Mafiosi, they haven't a political idea in their heads, they enjoy killing. That standard British view of the IRA is thrown out of the window in the documentary. I show them as they are. It's an eye-opening and rather disturbing experience for many people.
Many of them seemed quite ordinary.
Well, they are quite ordinary. They kill people. They kill people because they really do believe they are fighting a war. Guys like Tommy McKearney (who would become a senior commander of the IRA) and Richard McAuley (sentenced to 10 years on weapons charges, now Gerry Adams' press secretary) are highly articulate, intelligent, highly motivated individuals who, had they not been brought up in Northern Ireland, might be doctors or dentists or lawyers or journalists or whatever.
Who were quite capable of the most terrible bungling.
Absolutely. Like Enniskillen (Nov. 11, 1987, when 11 people, including children, were killed by an IRA bomb at a Remembrance Day parade), like Bloody Friday, when you have those awful shots of bodies looking like black treacle being shoved into bags. That's the reality of it. They were bungled operations. As I said to Sean MacSteofin (the Provisional IRA's first chief of staff), if you plant bombs you mustn't be surprised if people get killed.
The Republican reaction has been generally favorable to your series, though there was one criticism, in an Irish newspaper, An Phoblacht (Republican News) that you were too English to understand the deliberateness behind the British government actions.
That was Danny Morrison, a very senior Provisional through the '70s and '80s, and whom I've known for years. He sees the whole thing as an intricate, brilliant plot on the part of the British, everything thought out in advance. To him, "Bloody Sunday" (a march in Derry in January 1972 in which British paratroopers killed 13 unarmed Catholics) was not a huge, tragic cock-up but a deliberate attempt to go in and kill people and teach the Catholics a lesson. Frankly, I regard all that as nonsense. He gives the British far more credit than they deserve. Many Republicans can't accept that they are not on the receiving end of some master British intelligence plot.

N E X T+P A G E+| Gerry Adams IS the IRA

T A B L E+T A L K Is the Sierra Club racist for supporting cuts in immigration? Join the debate in Headlines. D A I L Y+Q U O T E Frogs heads to go R E C E N T L Y Commissioner George Will? By Drew Lindsay The Greek-spouting conservative elitist could be just what baseball's beer-and-bratwurst crowd needs (10/20/97) Free the Boulder two! By Mark Hunter The parents of JonBenet Ramsey are being railroaded (10/17/97) Armchair warriors for Zion? By Jonathan Broder From the comfort of their homes, wealthy U.S. Jews are helping to destroy the Middle East peace process (10/16/97) The next Vietnam war? By Thi Lam A peasant revolt threatens the communist regime (10/15/97) Spaced out By David Beers It's time to grow up and ground the astronauts (10/14/97) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Newsreal Archives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
		behind the balaclavas - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - In war, the IRA are quite ordinary killers. Do they have what it takes to make the peace? BY ROS DAVIDSON \| when British Prime Minister Tony Blair shook hands with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams in Northern Ireland last week, he made history. The simple act signified the first official meeting between representatives of the British government and political representatives of the outlawed Irish Republican Army in 76 years. The meeting was the a milestone in the fragile peace process aimed at bringing an end to "The Troubles" in the torn province. That the process still has many more miles to go was evident from the jostling and shouts of "traitor" that greeted Blair after the handshake. For many Protestants, talking to Sinn Fein is the same as appeasing IRA murderers with blood still on their hands. Salon spoke with British television reporter Peter Taylor, who has covered the conflict in Northern Ireland for 25 years for the BBC and commercial television. Taylor is the chief reporter of "Behind the Mask," a "Frontline" two-hour special to be broadcast Tuesday on many PBS stations. The author of an upcoming book of the same name, Taylor gained unprecedented access to members of the Republican movement, including former key "Provos" engaged in the struggle, and was able to produce a detailed account of what lay behind the fratricidal "Troubles" of the past 30 years. The "Frontline" documentary is based on a four-part series that just finished on the BBC in Britain. Given the amount of play you give to actual IRA members, were you howled down like Tony Blair was when he went to Belfast? We had the predictable criticisms in the beginning about giving terrorists the oxygen of publicity, of being insensitive in our timing, jeopardizing the talks and all that kind of nonsense. But it died away. Most people I think were drawn into the series for what it was -- an attempt to relate the remarkable evolution of the IRA, from nothing in '69 to where they are now today. I was really gratified by the huge number of people who said it had helped them understand what was going on and why. One of the most remarkable aspects of the documentary is the amount of access you had with the IRA. We're behind IRA guns, at private meetings, witnessing a training session in bomb-building, inside the Maze prison, watching an FBI videotape of a sting involving IRA arms buyers. Have viewers in Britain or the U.S. ever seen this detail before? No, never. I made a documentary inside the Maze prison in 1990, which was the first time people had seen IRA members talk the way they really did, and without their masks on. Most of the people on "Behind the Mask" had never been interviewed before. The Republican movement was, to say the least, a little nervous they would say something they shouldn't. But in fact what they did was absolutely straight. Which is the great strength of the series. In what way? It's not intended to be judgmental. It's judgmental in as much that I do not approve of people planting bombs that blow people to pieces on Bloody Friday (July 21, 1972, when the IRA planted 26 car bombs all over Belfast, killing nine people and injuring 130). But it's not judgmental in the sense of saying that the IRA are a bunch of murdering bastards, they're thugs, they're Mafiosi, they haven't a political idea in their heads, they enjoy killing. That standard British view of the IRA is thrown out of the window in the documentary. I show them as they are. It's an eye-opening and rather disturbing experience for many people. Many of them seemed quite ordinary. Well, they are quite ordinary. They kill people. They kill people because they really do believe they are fighting a war. Guys like Tommy McKearney (who would become a senior commander of the IRA) and Richard McAuley (sentenced to 10 years on weapons charges, now Gerry Adams' press secretary) are highly articulate, intelligent, highly motivated individuals who, had they not been brought up in Northern Ireland, might be doctors or dentists or lawyers or journalists or whatever. Who were quite capable of the most terrible bungling. Absolutely. Like Enniskillen (Nov. 11, 1987, when 11 people, including children, were killed by an IRA bomb at a Remembrance Day parade), like Bloody Friday, when you have those awful shots of bodies looking like black treacle being shoved into bags. That's the reality of it. They were bungled operations. As I said to Sean MacSteofin (the Provisional IRA's first chief of staff), if you plant bombs you mustn't be surprised if people get killed. The Republican reaction has been generally favorable to your series, though there was one criticism, in an Irish newspaper, An Phoblacht (Republican News) that you were too English to understand the deliberateness behind the British government actions. That was Danny Morrison, a very senior Provisional through the '70s and '80s, and whom I've known for years. He sees the whole thing as an intricate, brilliant plot on the part of the British, everything thought out in advance. To him, "Bloody Sunday" (a march in Derry in January 1972 in which British paratroopers killed 13 unarmed Catholics) was not a huge, tragic cock-up but a deliberate attempt to go in and kill people and teach the Catholics a lesson. Frankly, I regard all that as nonsense. He gives the British far more credit than they deserve. Many Republicans can't accept that they are not on the receiving end of some master British intelligence plot. N E X T+P A G E+\| Gerry Adams IS the IRA