Analysis: the introduction of internment 50 years ago meant increased support, publicity and money for republican causes in the US
Northern Ireland prime minister Brian Faulkner announced the introduction of internment on August 9th 1971. Defined as "imprisonment without trial", this policy would result in an escalation of violence in Northern Ireland, its transformation into an ungovernable state and events such as Bloody Sunday and the abolition of Stormont, both in 1972. As we approach the 50th anniversary of Faulkner’s announcement, much will be written on the colossal impact the policy had in worsening the security situation in Northern Ireland and, predominantly, the lives of the nationalist population.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Archives, Michael Ryan reports for RTÉ News in August 1971 on the reaction of Taoiseach Jack Lynch to the introduction of internment
However, the introduction and one-sided nature of internment resulted in an important spike in support across the Atlantic. Historically, the US has always acted as an important hub for fundraising and publicity of conflicts in Ireland, dating from the Irish famine of the 1840s through to Éamon de Valera's fundraising tour during the War of Independence to the present context surrounding the Good Friday Agreement and its safeguarding in a post-Brexit climate.
Following the ideological split in the republican movement in 1969/70, the Provisional IRA turned to the US in the hope of establishing a fundraising network to support the armed campaign. Irish Northern Aid Committee, more commonly known as NORAID, was founded in April 1970 and included such prominent figures as Michael Flannery, a former IRA volunteer and anti-Treaty supporter who served as head of Clan na Gael, president of New York GAA and was involved in other Irish American organisations. The committee campaigned for funds to aid the families of Irish republican prisoners and used socials and marches to raise their profile.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Archives, RTÉ News report on a NORAID visit to Northern Ireland in 1985
The introduction of internment became the first event to garner significant publicity in America since the outbreak of the conflict in 1969. Both Bernadette Devlin's ill-fated tour of the US in August 1969 and the Falls Road curfew in July 1970 had some impact, but neither captured the American audience in the same manner as internment and its consequences. As the most vocal supporters of militant Irish nationalism, NORAID benefitted from the growing discontent amongst Irish Americans over British policy in Ireland.
On January 29th 1971, NORAID was ordered to file six-monthly financial returns under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, because the committee sent monies to Ireland and operated in a political capacity given that the funds were specified for the families of political prisoners. In the first returns from February-July 1971, they transferred $11,500 to Ireland. However, returns for the next six-months, from August 1971 until January 1972 (just before Bloody Sunday), came to $128,099, an increase of over 1,000%.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Archives, Brendan O'Brien reports for Seven Days in 1974 on protests against internment
This demonstrated the immediate financial implications of internment for an organisation who were overt in their support for the Provisional IRA and the armed campaign, particularly in the pre-1981 hunger strike period. Joe Cahill, the chief of staff of the Provisional IRA, attempted to travel to the US for a publicity tour in 1971, but was arrested at New York's JFK airport and subsequently deported. This boosted publicity for a NORAID, who had organised the trip and used his arrest to increase their profile.
The US reaction to internment also extended to the United States Congress. Democratic Party senators Ted Kennedy and Abraham Ribicoff introduced a resolution in October 1971 calling for an end to internment and the withdrawal of British troops from Northern Ireland. This represented the first serious interest in the conflict by the US Congress and would become more prevalent as the conflict continued, particularly as a reaction to major events.
Few would argue that the introduction of internment was the seminal moment in the escalation of violence in Northern Ireland. The recent ruling by a Belfast coroner in the Ballymurphy massacre case that the ten victims were ‘entirely innocent’ brought the introduction of internment into a sharper focus, as will the 50th anniversary this August. We are also heading towards the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when 14 unarmed protestors lost their lives while attending an anti-internment march.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Archives, John O'Callaghan reports for RTÉ News on Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Merlyn Rees announcing an end to internment in Northern Ireland in December 1975
Nonetheless, its impact in publicising the conflict to an American audience and boost support for groups such as Noraid cannot be underestimated. When the policy of internment officially ended in December 1975, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Merlyn Rees described it as the "greatest emotional weapon the Provisional IRA ever had".
He described how "a lot of financial subscriptions" came from America "because of the existence of internment". Indeed, the introduction of internment and events such as Ballymurphy and Bloody Sunday became the catalysts for organisations such as NORAID to raise millions of dollars to help the families of Irish republican prisoners and help sustain the armed campaign of the Provisional IRA for the next two decades.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
