Opinion

Denis Bradley: Patrick Pearse was wrong - there is no purity in violence

Denis Bradley

Denis Bradley

Denis Bradley is a columnist for The Irish News and former vice-chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board.

Easter Rising leader Patrick Pearse
Easter Rising leader Patrick Pearse Easter Rising leader Patrick Pearse

We are well used to hearing of unionist meritocracy. Who is the true unionist – that continuum from ‘not an inch’, right through to the ultimate shame of ‘sell out’ Lundy?

The same spotlight is seldom shone on republicanism, even though the formation of the next Irish government is being greatly determined by meritocracy within that ideology.

Modern Irish republicanism goes back to 1916, the Treaty and The War of Independence. Its various manifestations receded somewhat until the northern troubles broke out. As the violence grew more brutal, the distinction between nationalist and republican, between Sinn Féin and IRA, became more pronounced.

Nationalists, in the eyes of republicans, were good enough people but only up to a point. Those who joined Sinn Féin but not the IRA were better than nationalists but were not the real thing. The ‘real thing’ were those who had been jailed or killed in advancing the republican ‘project’.

Ironically, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, who had their roots in 1916, began a narrative that distinguished the IRA of the northern troubles from the IRA of 1916 and The War of Independence. That narrative was accompanied by an exhortation from those parties for militant republicans to engage in politics rather than violence; to give up the gun and strive for unity through the ballot box. The bulk of northern nationalists and most republicans never bought the distinction between the IRAs. But that diverse constituency ultimately grasped the ballot box with enthusiasm.

There were moments of excruciating arrogance by the IRA as they journeyed from militancy to politics. Moments when the SDLP and others had to face down that arrogance and dishonesty. Such as supporting Hugh Orde, the chief constable of the newly established police service, as he stated that the IRA had stolen millions from the Northern Bank. The same Hugh Orde who stood beside Martin McGuinness, years later, as the former IRA man proclaimed that the dissident republicans were traitors to republicanism.

Most nationalists and republicans believe that the Provisional IRA has gone away. They don’t see them or feel them in their communities. They agree with those who say that anyone who wants to see the shadowy figures who supposedly control Sinn Féin should go up to the canteen at Stormont. They have been there most days during the last ten years.

Dissident IRA, however, are still a stone in the shoe. They have been heavily infiltrated, are carrying out fewer attacks than before and are feeling more side-lined in the growing debate about the demographic and political changes that are affecting Scotland and Ireland. There are beginning indicators that they are finally moving towards peace.

Unfortunately, the political parties in the south have spent a lot less time and energy in confronting the dissidents than decrying the rise of Sinn Féin. I can’t recall an occasion when a senior political figure from any Irish government has gone into the communities where the dissidents reside to challenge the outdated republicanism that they espouse.

But all of this leads back to the original and distorted narrative of the meritocracy of Irish militant republicanism. The core truth is that there is no meritocracy when it comes to violence. There are reasons why 1916 took place. There are reasons why the Troubles broke out in ’69 and why they lasted so long. When it comes to violence there is always a tension between the reasons and the response. For every problem violence appears to solve, it creates other and greater problems. Patrick Pearse was wrong: there is no purity in violence.

A republic is a state where supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives. That supreme power of the people is often aspirational. It is often slow and erratic in coming to a settled mind. But any party or political movement that does not bow the knee to that authority has relinquished the right to be call republican.