The long war: The IRA and Sinn Féin, 1985 to today

This is a book which tells you why the IRA cannot be beaten, yet cannot win; what they mean by 'sickening' the British; how they see their armed actions in Ireland and Britain; why they keep going; why they are convinced that the British will eventually do business with them. Beginning with the early 1980s, THE LONG WAR traces the evolution of the modern Republican movement and outlines the political and military thinking of the IRA and Sinn Fein, right up to 1993 when the book was published. It examines, the significance of the eruptions of the 1981 hunger strikes, the takeover of leadership by Gerry Adams and the 'Northerners', the arrival of the huge shipment of arms from Libya, and the shift of position from traditional dogmatic Republicanism to one of pragmatism and compromise. The book gets behind the Irish/British political talks and explores the prospects of Sinn Fein join the negotiating 'table'. In the Republican heartlands, ordinary people, as well as Sinn Fein and IRA activists, tell of their Irish nationalism and their personal tragedies, and explain why many still believe that Britain must be forced out of Ireland. This was published in Dublin, Ireland by the O'Brien Press Ltd. The author was the RTE's senior television current affairs reporter, who reported on Northern Ireland and the Irish national questions from 1973 to 2002. (RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann.)