History UsefulNotes / TheTroubles

It is likely that, for want of some compromise and moderation on both sides, the Troubles may never have become the dreadful conflict that they were; like [[ArabIsraeliConflict that other long-running dispute people get heated up about]], the Troubles show the fine line between {{Tragedy}} and {{Farce}}. As the sorry narrative shows, compromise and moderation were in short supply in the Six Counties; history records few conflicts guided so much by passion and so little by reason (or to be perfectly blunt: [[IdiotPlot almost everyone who counted acted like gibbering idiots for the longest time]]). The conflict has its roots in the first round of Troubles and the Irish War of Independence. At the end of the aforementioned war, the British decided to partition Ireland, giving the southern counties their independence, and keeping the six northern (and Unionist-dominated) counties part of the UK. This decision was unpopular with both the Protestant unionists and Catholic nationalists - the nationalists wanted ''all'' Ireland united under Irish home rule, whilst the unionists wanted ''all'' Ireland united under British rule. However, the unionists were the majority in the North. For the next forty years, they alone ruled Northern Ireland, with the nationalist majority largely excluded from public life by snobbery, poverty and bigotry. The UK Parliament, happy to be shot of the "Irish Question", washed its hands of the affair, and this system persisted for years.

* An episode of ''LifeOnMars'' had apparent IRA bombings, although Sam Tyler was sure they weren't by the IRA because of his modern knowledge.

** [[WTHCastingAgency What.]]

* TomClancy's ''Literature/PatriotGames'' draws his regular characters into the whole mess when Jack Ryan saves [[AnonymousRinger Prince Charles and his family]] from an IRA assassination attempt. Clancy also used the IRA in his novel ''Rainbow Six'' being hired by the villians to attack Rainbow and for some reason is convinced that the Provisionals are Marxists (they are not. Being a Tom Clancy book you probably ''have'' to have [[DirtyCommunists communism]] in there somewhere, of course).
** To be fair, his ''fictional splinter group'' of the Provisionals, the "Ulster Liberation Army", were Marxists. Not the Provos themselves.
** Clancy's confusion/inspiration is probably because back in the 1970s and early 80s the Soviet Union funneled supplies to assorted terrorist, guerrilla and resistance groups all over the world (note the thing that looks like an AK-47 on the flag of Hezbollah). As long as they were causing trouble for the US and/or its allies, the Soviets weren't picky about the ideology. Compare this to the [[NotSoDifferent US funding]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero of Afghan extremists]] in the mid-80s.
** A more likely source for Clancy's confusion/inspiration is mixing up the Official IRA with the Provisional IRA. The Old IRA, the organization that survived the civil war, gradually became a Marxist organization when its leadership changed. By 1968, it was mostly a political discussion group. A bunch of young hotheads took over a then on-going civil rights struggle in Northern Ireland with the name of the IRA, called themselves the Provisional IRA, splitting from the rest (the Official IRA, which became the Irish National Liberation Army, INLA, later). The rest is history. (Source: Tim Pat Coogan, The IRA)
** Which just turns it into a research goof: PIRA got most of their funding and arms from ''American'' sympathizers and Qaddafi's Libya. While it is true that much of the aid from the latter was manufactured in the Soviet Union any major direct link between Moscow and the IRA was a Cold War fantasy (and one with long roots - the British attempted to portray Irish nationalists during the 1919-1921 violence as communists, a bewildering charge considering that in the words of one former rebel "[The IRA were] the most conservative-minded revolutionaries that ever put through a successful revolution".)
*** Did any of you actually read the book? As mentioned earlier, the fictional "Ulster Liberation Army" was what Clancy was portraying as Marxists (which, as acknowledged above, is not necessarily the same thing as the 'official' IRA, but does sound suspiciously like the Provos.) A connection with Libya as a supplier of weapons is most clearly made, not to the USSR (except indirectly).
*** Not so on some various levels. For one, the IRA quote [[TheAmericanRevolution forgets a prior group]] and the considerable amount of Socialists in the original IRA never mind its later incarnations. In addition, there were some tentative ties between the Soviets and the IRA (which usually involved the Soviets using the IRA for all it was worth particularly regarding American, British, and Irish military deployments in exchange for occasionally getting sent a crate of substandard AK-47s or other such "aid").
*** There were also 'tentative ties' between the Irish government and ''the Nazis'' simply because they happened to both be anti-British, though this is a somwhat different matter as the Irish group were also spying on said Nazis and provided cucial information for the invasion of Normandy. Whatever about getting arms for the cause PIRA certainly didn't want to see a stalag in Belfast.
** One of the reasons why the PIRA disarmed in the early 2000s was 9/11. US sponsorship dried up very quickly at that point.
** It's ''extremely'' unlikely a Republican group would use the term "Ulster" in their name. Ulster is a term used pretty much exclusively by Loyalists. Unless these chaps are trying to dispense with the old conventions of naming, it's a Captain Planet-level of Troubles confusion.

* The infamously badly-researched ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' episode ''"If It's Doomsday, This Must Be Belfast"''. Dialogue example: "Fenian Prods". Look it up on Website/YouTube. For obvious reasons anyone who grew up during the troubles finds it ''[[SoBadItsGood amazing]]''.

* ''Film/PatriotGames'' has some terrorist group, [[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes not quite IRA but not quite not-IRA]], leaded by [[SeanBean Ned]]. They shoot [[TheTroubles Brits]] [[ItGotWorse first]], [[AndThenWhat then]] [[NonSequitur Americans]]. See Literature.

In 1969, a loyalist group called the Apprentice Boys of Derry (a good example of the conflict's snowballing - back then, loyalists could call it "Derry") planned an anti-reform march [[{{Troll}} on the same day and on the same route as a civil rights march.]] This went as well as expected. The civil rights marchers, ordered not to march, [[{{Determinator}} marched anyway]], and were attacked by the loyalist police. There followed some of the most shocking PoliceBrutality ever seen in the British Isles, especially from the [[TheDreaded infamous B-Specials]], an unpaid and part-time adjunct to the regular police force. Enraged, the Catholic civil rights movement went into hyperdrive, marching and protesting...and being attacked by police and loyalists again and again. In response, and likely due to prodding from London, the Ulster parliament promised wide-ranging reforms...which led to loyalist protests and more violence. At the beginning of August, there was a serious three-way riot between Catholics, loyalists and police in the center of Belfast. Appalled, HaroldWilson and then-Home Secretary JamesCallaghan took the decision (without consulting the Cabinet) to send in the British Army to restore order, in return for the abolition of the B-Specials and serious, substantive reform. It is a myth that they were not aware of the dangers, (they estimated that it would be at least a decade before they pulled out) and some historians have called the decision to send in the Army "Jim Callaghan's finest hour."

The sending in of the Army initially sparked a rise in violence, as the IRA, at this point just a small faction, spread (untrue[[note]]At least then.[[/note]]) rumors that the Army was colluding with loyalist thugs, whilst loyalist paramilitaries feared that they were about to lose their "privileged" position in Ulster society. For the more nationalist Irish, the presence of [[OccupiersOutOfOurCountry British soldiers on Irish soil was intolerable.]] However, there were signs in the next two years that the Northern Irish situation could be resolved, until the worst possible scenario in the eyes of the Government became a terrible reality: On the 30th of January 1972, a Sunday, the Parachute Regiment, for reasons that are still unclear, fired on marchers in Derry, killing two. Then, a nationalist sniper fired on some Paras, missing. In response, the panicking Paratroopers began firing indiscriminately into the crowd, killing a further eleven marchers, and wounding several others, one of whom died of his injuries.[[note]]All facts drawn from Saville Report 2010[[/note]] This was Bloody Sunday, the DarkestHour of the troubles and a black day in the history of the British Army. The killings led to a surge in popular support, both at home and abroad, for the IRA. Whole sections of Derry declared themselves "free", rejecting British rule, and attacking any official representatives that tried to enter. Money started flowing into IRA coffers from donors in the United States. The [[DirtyCommunists Soviet Union and her allies]], seeing an opportunity to harm Western prestige and destabilize a critical American ally, began funding some Irish republican groups as well. Later, in revenge for the US bombing of Tripoli (launched from British bases) Muammar al-Quadhafi joined in as well. In response, the British took swift, decisive and sometimes brutal action. So began the long and squalid history of the Troubles.

* ''PatriotGames'' has some terrorist group, [[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes not quite IRA but not quite not-IRA]], leaded by [[SeanBean Ned]]. They shoot [[TheTroubles Brits]] [[ItGotWorse first]], [[AndThenWhat then]] [[NonSequitur Americans]]. See Literature.

* TomClancy's ''Patriot Games'' draws his regular characters into the whole mess when Jack Ryan saves [[AnonymousRinger Prince Charles and his family]] from an IRA assassination attempt. Clancy also used the IRA in his novel ''Rainbow Six'' being hired by the villians to attack Rainbow and for some reason is convinced that the Provisionals are Marxists (they are not. Being a Tom Clancy book you probably ''have'' to have [[DirtyCommunists communism]] in there somewhere, of course).

As such, while seldom being explicit, the image of the [[DracoInLeatherPants romantic and noble]] Irish [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters Freedom Fighter]] struggling against the [[RonTheDeathEater stuffy]] (and occasionally baby-eating) British Establishment does pervade some films. Of course, while the British establishment engaged in a lot of activities they shouldn't be proud of during this time, such as collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, the conflict was hardly as black-and-white as some are tempted to depict it as being (ultimately, the British were responsible for less that 10% of the conflict's casualties, with republican and loyalist paramilitaries causing 60 and 30% respectively), with incredibly questionable behaviour being common to both sides. Essentially, it's like a real life case of GreyAndGreyMorality.

It is likely that, for want of some compromise and moderation on both sides, the Troubles may never have become the dreadful conflict that they were; like [[ArabIsraeliConflict that other long-running dispute people get heated up about]], the Troubles show the fine line between {{Tragedy}} and {{Farce}}. As the sorry narrative shows, compromise and moderation were in short supply in the Six Counties; history records few conflicts guided so much by passion and so little by reason (or to be perfectly blunt: everyone who counted acted like gibbering idiots for the longest time). The conflict has its roots in the first round of Troubles and the Irish War of Independence. At the end of the aforementioned war, the British decided to partition Ireland, giving the southern counties their independence, and keeping the six northern (and Unionist-dominated) counties part of the UK. This decision was unpopular with both the Protestant unionists and Catholic nationalists - the nationalists wanted ''all'' Ireland united under Irish home rule, whilst the unionists wanted ''all'' Ireland united under British rule. However, the unionists were the majority in the North. For the next forty years, they alone ruled Northern Ireland, with the nationalist majority largely excluded from public life by snobbery, poverty and bigotry. The UK Parliament, happy to be shot of the "Irish Question", washed its hands of the affair, and this system persisted for years.

It is likely that, for want of some compromise and moderation on both sides, the Troubles may never have become the dreadful conflict that they were; like [[ArabIsraeliConflict that other long-running dispute people get heated up about]], the Troubles show how close Tragedy can get to Farce. As the sorry narrative shows, compromise and moderation were in short supply in the Six Counties. The conflict has its roots in the first round of Troubles and the Irish War of Independence. At the end of the aforementioned war, the British decided to partition Ireland, giving the southern counties their independence, and keeping the six northern (and Unionist-dominated) counties part of the UK. This decision was unpopular with both the Protestant unionists and Catholic nationalists - the nationalists wanted ''all'' Ireland united under Irish home rule, whilst the unionists wanted ''all'' Ireland united under British rule. However, the unionists were the majority in the North. For the next forty years, they alone ruled Northern Ireland, with the nationalist majority largely excluded from public life by snobbery, poverty and bigotry. The UK Parliament, happy to be shot of the "Irish Question", washed its hands of the affair, and this system persisted for years.

It is likely that, for want of some compromise and moderation on both sides, the Troubles may never have become the dreadful conflict that they were. As the sorry narrative shows, compromise and moderation were in short supply in the Six Counties. The conflict has its roots in the first round of Troubles and the Irish War of Independence. At the end of the aforementioned war, the British decided to partition Ireland, giving the southern counties their independence, and keeping the six northern (and Unionist-dominated) counties part of the UK. This decision was unpopular with both the Protestant unionists and Catholic nationalists - the nationalists wanted ''all'' Ireland united under Irish home rule, whilst the unionists wanted ''all'' Ireland united under British rule. However, the unionists were the majority in the North. For the next forty years, they alone ruled Northern Ireland, with the nationalist majority largely excluded from public life by snobbery, poverty and bigotry. The UK Parliament, happy to be shot of the "Irish Question", washed its hands of the affair, and this system persisted for years.

As such, while seldom being explicit, the image of the [[DracoInLeatherPants romantic and noble]] Irish [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters Freedom Fighter]] struggling against the [[RonTheDeathEater stuffy]] (and occasionally [[CompleteMonster baby-eating]]) British Establishment does pervade some films. Of course, while the British establishment engaged in a lot of activities they shouldn't be proud of during this time, such as collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, the conflict was hardly as black-and-white as some are tempted to depict it as being (ultimately, the British were responsible for less that 10% of the conflict's casualties, with republican and loyalist paramilitaries causing 60 and 30% respectively), with incredibly questionable behaviour being common to both sides. Essentially, it's like a real life case of GreyAndGreyMorality.

->''The Israeli leaders on the Golan Heights''
->''won't accept their minorities must have rights.''
->''So the whole U.N. tries to stop the fight''
->''and a thousand plans are mentioned.''
->''But they're dying in Derry and no one cares.''
->''They rot in Kilmainham[[hottip:*:a British prison in pre-independence Ireland - now a museum - where those involved in the Easter Rising were shot; The Maze or Long Kesh was the post-partition jail used to house those convicted of terrorism or involved in the Troubles]] and 'the problem's theirs.' ''
->''So how many deaths and how much despair''
->''does it take to get '''attention?''' ''
->''Oh, but Ireland is different.''
->''Ireland is different.''
->''Ireland is different.''
->''God knows why, but it's different somehow.''
->''Ireland is different...''
->''...so they say.''
-->--'''Ireland is Different''', Brian Leo 1992

It's a reasonably popular setting for media and a good place to source WesternTerrorists from, even today. The fact that the British security services also got up to some dodgy dealings (such as accusations and genuine instances of: some collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, internment, murders, bombings, framing of innocent victims, black propaganda, political assassinations, a shoot-to-kill policy, raiding of private homes, the repressive [[KangarooCourt Diplock Court system]], tear gas, surveillance, torture, forced deportation, and kidnappings) adds to the potential drama. Expect knee-capping and bad Irish accents.

It is likely that, for want of some compromise and moderation on both sides, the Troubles may never have become the dreadful conflict that they were. As the sorry narrative shows, compromise and moderation were in short supply in the Six Counties. The conflict has its roots in the first round of Troubles and the Irish War of Independence. At the end of the aforementioned war, the British decided to partition Ireland, giving the southern counties their independence, and keeping the six northern (and Unionist) counties part of the UK. This decision was unpopular with both the Protestant unionists and Catholic nationalists - the nationalists wanted ''all'' Ireland united under Irish home rule, whilst the unionists wanted ''all'' Ireland united under British rule. However, the unionists were the majority in the North. For the next forty years, they alone ruled Northern Ireland, with the nationalist majority largely excluded from public life by snobbery, poverty and bigotry. The UK Parliament, happy to be shot of the "Irish Question", washed its hands of the affair, and this system persisted for years.

The sending in of the Army initially sparked a rise in violence, as the IRA, at this point just a small faction, spread (untrue[[note]]At least then.[[/note]]) rumors that the Army was colluding with loyalist thugs, whilst loyalist paramilitaries feared that they were about to lose their "privileged" position in Ulster society. For the more nationalist Irish, the presence of [[OccupiersOutOfOurCountry British soldiers on Irish soil was intolerable.]] However, there were signs in the next two years that the Northern Irish situation could be resolved, until the worst possible scenario in the eyes of the Government became a terrible reality: On the 30th of January 1972, a Sunday, the Parachute Regiment, for reasons that are still unclear, fired on marchers in Derry, killing two. Then, a nationalist sniper fired on some Paras, missing. In response, the panicking Paratroopers began firing indiscriminately into the crowd, killing a further eleven marchers, and wounding several others, one of whom died of his injuries.[[note]]All facts drawn from Saville Report 2010[[/note]] This was Bloody Sunday, the DarkestHour of the troubles and a black day in the history of the British Army. The killings led to a surge in popular support, both at home and abroad, for the IRA. Whole sections of Derry declared themselves "free", rejecting British rule, and attacking any official representatives that tried to enter. Money started flowing into IRA coffers from donors in the United States. The [[DirtyCommunists Soviet Union and her allies]], seeing an opportunity to harm Western prestige and destabilize a critical American ally, began funding as well. Later, in revenge for the US bombing of Tripoli (launched from British bases) Muammar al-Quadhafi joined in as well. In response, the British took swift, decisive and sometimes brutal action. So began the long and squalid history of the Troubles.

Violence increased through the 70s and 80s, with IRA bomb attacks, loyalist paramilitary assassinations and shoot-outs between the British and both sides a common feature. The British Army, previously deployed to keep order, now found itself fighting for the survival of the UK itself. Faced with the escalating violence, the British crackdowns became more severe - tanks were used to restore order to "free Derry", elements of the security forces colluded with loyalist paramilitaries. Many of the controversial features of the current War on Terror, the renditions, the torture, detention without trial, saw their bloody precursors in British actions in Ireland. Gradually, both sides became more extreme. The IRA now began bombing civilian targets (as opposed to the sporadic raids on Army bases that had characterized their earlier years), and began a tit-for-tat cycle of violence against the Protestant-unionist community. In a similar way to the War in Afghanistan, news bulletins spoke of the latest casualties. Riots were common, and a Berlin-style system of walls and checkpoints was enforced in Belfast and Derry to keep the feuding communities apart. The IRA became ever more brazen in their attacks, killing British war hero and mentor to Prince Charles Lord Mountbatten[[note]]Something of a ShootTheShaggyDog story - Mountbatten had been favourable to Irish reunification.[[/note]], and trying to kill MargaretThatcher in the bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton in 1984[[note]][[IronLady Thatcher began her scheduled convention at 9:30 the next day, as scheduled]][[/note]]. They failed, but killed five others. However, there were signs of hope for a peaceful solution too: In 1985, the Anglo-Irish Agreement gave the Republic of Ireland government a "consultative role" in the government of Northern Ireland. Fearing that they were being "sold out", Loyalist paramilitaries, armed by their stooges in the Ulster Defense Regiment and weapons dealers in Africa, began a campaign of terror in response.

By the early 1990s, both sides were feeling fed-up. John Major and Sinn Fein, the political wing of Irish republicanism, agreed to a ceasefire in 1994. The USA also decided to take an interest, and the British and Sinn Fein agreed to US mediation, with BillClinton flying in in 1995, to the delight of both sides. His intervention in Northern Ireland is an oft-forgotten (at least in the US) triumph for his presidency. He helped lay the foundations for an end to the bloodshed. The Troubles might have ended then and there, but it was not to be. The British refused to negotiate until the IRA decommissioned (or agreed to decommission) its weapons, which the IRA flat-out refused to do. In 1996, the IRA bombed Canary Wharf, breaking the ceasefire. More bombings followed, including a massive blast in Manchester which failed to kill anyone but destroyed the city center. Finally, due in part to political maneuvering by the British (who had started separate negotiations with other republican groups), American intervention, and a series of British successes in stopping arms and cash flow, Sinn Fein and the IRA agreed to disarm. During this process, a dissident loyalist group bombed Omagh, killing 28 civilians. Disgusted, majority republican opinion turned towards peace.

The sending in of the Army initially sparked a rise in violence, as the IRA, at this point just a small faction, spread (untrue[[note]]At least then.[[/note]]) rumors that the Army was colluding with loyalist thugs, whilst loyalist paramilitaries feared that they were about to lose their "privileged" position in Ulster society. For the more nationalist Irish, the presence of [[OccupiersOutOfOurCountry British soldiers on Irish soil was intolerable.]] However, there were signs in the next two years that the Northern Irish situation could be resolved, until the worst possible scenario in the eyes of the Government became a terrible reality: On the 30th of January 1972, a Sunday, the Parachute Regiment, for reasons best that are still unclear, fired on marchers in Derry, killing two. Then, a nationalist sniper fired on some Paras, missing. In response, the panicking Paratroopers began firing indiscriminately into the crowd, killing a further eleven marchers, and wounding several others, one of whom died of his injuries.[[note]]All facts drawn from Saville Report 2010[[/note]] This was Bloody Sunday, the DarkestHour of the troubles and a black day in the history of the British Army. The killings led to a surge in popular support, both at home and abroad, for the IRA. Whole sections of Derry declared themselves "free", rejecting British rule, and attacking any official representatives that tried to enter. Money started flowing into IRA coffers from donors in the United States. The [[DirtyCommunists Soviet Union and her allies]], seeing an opportunity to harm Western prestige and destabilize a critical American ally, began funding as well. Later, in revenge for the US bombing of Tripoli (launched from British bases) Muammar al-Quadhafi joined in as well. In response, the British took swift, decisive and sometimes brutal action. So began the long and squalid history of the Troubles.

The sending in of the Army initially sparked a rise in violence, as the IRA, at this point just a small faction, spread (untrue[[note]]At least then.[[/note]]) rumors that the Army was colluding with loyalist thugs. For the more nationalist Irish, the presence of [[OccupiersOutOfOurCountry British soldiers on Irish soil was intolerable.]] However, there were signs in the next two years that the Northern Irish situation could be resolved, until the worst possible scenario in the eyes of the Government became a terrible reality: On the 30th of January 1972, a Sunday, the Parachute Regiment, for reasons best that are still unclear, fired on marchers in Derry, killing two. Then, a nationalist sniper fired on some Paras, missing. In response, the panicking Paratroopers began firing indiscriminately into the crowd, killing a further eleven marchers, and wounding several others, one of whom died of his injuries.[[note]]All facts drawn from Saville Report 2010[[/note]] This was Bloody Sunday, the DarkestHour of the troubles and a black day in the history of the British Army. The killings led to a surge in popular support, both at home and abroad, for the IRA. Whole sections of Derry declared themselves "free", rejecting British rule, and attacking any official representatives that tried to enter. Money started flowing into IRA coffers from donors in the United States. The [[DirtyCommunists Soviet Union and her allies]], seeing an opportunity to harm Western prestige and destabilize a critical American ally, began funding as well. In response, the British took swift and decisive action. So began the long and squalid history of the Troubles.

It's a reasonably popular setting for media and a good place to source WesternTerrorists from, even today. The fact that the British security services also got up to some dodgy dealings (such as some collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, internment, murders, bombings, framing of innocent victims, black propaganda, political assassinations, a shoot-to-kill policy, raiding of private homes, the repressive [[KangarooCourt Diplock Court system]], tear gas, surveillance, torture, forced deportation, and kidnappings) adds to the potential drama. Expect knee-capping and bad Irish accents.

As such, while seldom being explicit, the image of the [[DracoInLeatherPants romantic and noble]] Irish [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters Freedom Fighter]] struggling against the [[RonTheDeathEater stuffy]] (and occasionally [[CompleteMonster baby-eating]]) British Establishment does pervade some films. Of course, while the British establishment engaged in a lot of activities they shouldn't be proud of during this time, such as collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, the conflict was hardly as black-and-white as some are tempted to depict it as being, with incredibly questionable behaviour being common to both sides. Essentially, it's like a real life case of GreyAndGreyMorality.

Pretty much over now (the Provos have effectively ceased function), although there are still occasional bombings of British military targets (such as recently in 2009), and tensions between Catholic and Protestant communities, largely unrelated to politics, still make themselves known from time to time (although the credit crisis led to both Catholics and Protestants joining together...to riot against {{Roma}} [[AcceptableTargets and other Eastern Europeans]]. The legacy remains though - a recent proposal by a commission to pay the nearest relatives of ''all'' the dead £12,000 compensation led to anger). Also a lot of IRA affiliated men are now involved in drug dealing gangs, due in part because smuggling guns in during the Troubles turned out to be rather good training for drug smuggling.

* Fiona Glenanne of ''BurnNotice'' is former IRA, along with her brother Sean. Of course, we're not going to get into [[WTHCastingAgency the wisdom of casting]] [[FakeIrish Brit actress Gabrielle Anwar]] [[UnfortunateImplications as an angry, pyromaniac explosives expert]] from {{Oireland}}.

The period, lasting roughly between c.1966 and 1998, of Northern Irish terrorism in both the Six Counties and the mainland United Kingdom. During this period, Unionists, who are mostly Protestants (Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and Methodist), and Nationalists, who are mostly Roman Catholics, fought each other over which country Northern Ireland should belong to -- Unionists favoring Northern Ireland's, uh, ''union'' with Great Britain, and Nationalists wanting to belong to a united, independent Ireland.[[note]]You might hear the former referred to as "Loyalists" or "Royalists" and the latter as "Republicans", but they are not strictly synonymous. In the broad sense "Loyalist" suggests the question "loyal to ''whom'', exactly?" and "Royalist" merely indicates support for a monarchy--which the independent Ireland had during the Irish Free State. On the other hand, it is entirely consistent (albeit extremely rare) for someone to support Northern Ireland remaining in the UK but also support the UK becoming a republic; such a person would therefore be both Unionist and (after a fashion) Republican. And then there are the Ulster nationalists, who think Northern Ireland (or "Ulster" as they call it, rightly or not) should be a separate country from both Ireland and Great Britain...Yes, this is one of ''those'' conflicts.[[/note]]

* In the final episode of the original ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' series, "The Conspirators", the villain is an IRA gun-runner named Joe Devlin, played by Clive Revill. He's portrayed as a philosophical KnightTemplar, who works as a poet and author in his legitimate life. He also raises funds for an organization called American Friends of Northern Ireland, which is more-or-less an {{Expy}} of Noraid (with the fact that the money really goes to the IRA being a better kept secret in the fictional version). The [[AlwaysMurder requisite murder]] is of an ArmsDealer, who was planning to take Devlin's money and flee the country.

* In the final episode of the original ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' series, "The Conspirators", the villain is an IRA gun-runner named Joe Devlin, played by Clive Revill. He's portrayed as a philosophical KnightTemplar, who works as a poet and author in his legitimate life. He also raises funds for an organization called American Friends of Northern Ireland, which is more-or-less an {{Expy}} of Noraid. The [[AlwaysMurder requisite murder]] is of an ArmsDealer, who was planning to take Devlin's money and flee the country.

* The final episode of the original ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' series, "The Conspirators", centered on an IRA gun-runner played by Clive Revill.

----

** Of course, the sequel also [[DidNotDoTheResearch gets it wrong, being set in 2003, while The Troubles ended in 1998]].

** Which just turns it into a case of DidNotDoTheResearch: PIRA got most of their funding and arms from ''American'' sympathizers and Qaddafi's Libya. While it is true that much of the aid from the latter was manufactured in the Soviet Union any major direct link between Moscow and the IRA was a Cold War fantasy (and one with long roots - the British attempted to portray Irish nationalists during the 1919-1921 violence as communists, a bewildering charge considering that in the words of one former rebel "[The IRA were] the most conservative-minded revolutionaries that ever put through a successful revolution".)
*** Did any of you actually read the book? As mentioned earlier, the fictional "Ulster Liberation Army" was what Clancy was portraying as Marxists (which, as acknowledged above, is not necessarily the same thing as the 'official' IRA, but does sound suspiciously like the Provos.) A connection with Libya as a supplier of weapons is most clearly made, not to the USSR (except indirectly). DidNotDoTheResearch indeed....

** Speaking of {{DidNotDoTheResearch}}, it's ''extremely'' unlikely a Republican group would use the term "Ulster" in their name. Ulster is a term used pretty much exclusively by Loyalists. Unless these chaps are trying to dispense with the old conventions of naming, it's a Captain Planet-level of Troubles confusion.

* The infamously [[DidNotDoTheResearch badly-researched]] ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' episode ''"If It's Doomsday, This Must Be Belfast"''. Dialogue example: "Fenian Prods". Look it up on Website/YouTube. For obvious reasons anyone who grew up during the troubles finds it ''[[SoBadItsGood amazing]]''.