The anniversary of the IRA ceasefire must be a moment to remember – not rewrite – a painful history
3 min read
It is 30 years since the IRA ceasefire was called in 1994.
There was worldwide focus on Northern Ireland, numerous accolades presented and events held last year as many hailed the political agreement reached 30 years previously in 1998 as the pivotal moment for peace. What took place four years earlier was arguably of greater significance however because it demonstrated the truth of what many of us had declared for years; that once the Provisional IRA ended their violence it would not only end the bloodshed of the IRA but would remove any rationale by those who claimed to be responding to that violence. They too would have to cease.
The year 1994 was the first occasion when the IRA, loyalist paramilitaries and the security forces all began moving to de-escalate the situation here in Northern Ireland. Throughout the decades of murder and mayhem, up until then there were countless occasions when militant republicans pressed successive governments to remove military checkpoints, scale down search operations and other activities as they attempted to portray a narrative of an oppressive British government regime designed to bear down on the wider nationalist community. In reality it was the IRA, like other terrorist organisations, who were often engaged in the real oppression of communities they claimed to represent as well as those they opposed.
A key part of the ‘peace process equation’ was that those who engaged in unjustified violence that commenced in 1969/70 with the emergence of the IRA, had to stop. When that could be clearly seen to have happened then any response to that violence would obviously do likewise. Time and time again up until 1994 Sinn Féin resisted this obvious cause and effect analysis. By 1994, republicans were increasingly aware of how heavily infiltrated the ranks of the IRA were, there was no sign of the terrorist campaign succeeding and communities on all sides were incredibly war weary. There was a recognition of the need to get off the hook to which they had impaled themselves, and everyone else as a result, for so long.
No terrorist organisation deserves thanks for ceasing activities which were never acceptable or justified in the first place. Thirty years later it may be difficult for those who were not around during the 70s and 80s even to believe that during those decades the wider nationalist electorate rejected the IRA’s political voice time and time again. The self-styled ‘First Minister for everyone’ Michelle O’Neill indicated some time ago that there was “no alternative” to the IRA’s campaign. She is the latest in a long line of republicans who cannot accept the cold hard reality that there was always an alternative to murder. The “Ooh ah up the Ra” chants by young people at some concerts or sporting events when they don’t realise the pain and anguish ‘the Ra’ inflicted on their own community is part of this legacy of attempting to rewrite history.
Northern Ireland is in a better place now, but we must avoid allowing those who were forced to end their violence from believing they deserve thanks for doing so, or for claiming there was no alternative to it. Others who attempt to replicate the violence of the past offer the same excuses for their unjustified violence today.
Despite the challenges Northern Ireland faces, we are in a better place, but we need to go forward exclusively on the basis, not just of peace, but also accepting that we can only make progress by minimising our disagreements and building on our agreements. We build a better future while not allowing anyone to rewrite the past.
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