of Ó Brádaigh and fellow-southerners of his generation from leadership of the movement. Richard English makes the point, in his 2003 book on the IRA, that the members of the organisation had been given to understand that the British were edging towards the exit-door and, when it turned out that this wasn’t the case, the southern-based leadership lost a good deal of credibility.18
On 30 January 1975, ten days before the truce began, there was a development which would have massive implications within a few years for the republican movement and the entire island. A committee headed by Britain’s Lord Gardiner issued a report which called for an end to ‘special category status’ whereby persons who were imprisoned for offences arising from the Troubles were effectively treated as political prisoners, and did not have to wear prison uniforms or carry out prison work. The Report said: ‘The introduction of special category status for convicted prisoners was a serious mistake... The earliest practicable opportunity should be taken to bring special category status to an end.’ The British Government accepted the recommendation, which came into effect from 1 March 1976. The first prisoner to arrive under the new dispensation, Kieran Nugent, refused to wear a prison uniform. Declaring that ‘they’ll have to nail it to my back’, he wrapped himself in a blanket instead. His example was followed by hundreds of other republicans, and ultimately led to the hunger strike of 1981 in which Bobby Sands and nine other prisoners died after refusing food as a protest against the ending of political status.19
There have been subtle differences between republicans on either side of the border. At the time of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 most IRA members in the North went with Michael Collins, whose personal attitude to partition was more militant than other pro-Treaty leaders and perhaps even some on the anti-Treaty side, who were focused on the issue of sovereignty and the oath of allegiance involving the British monarch, which was part of the Treaty.20
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
