Free Statism and the Good Old IRA

Veteran republican Danny Morrison challenges Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Irish establishment over their attitude to partition and how the closer Ireland gets to a border referendum the more obstacles they place in the way of debate and discussion. He accuses them of having a ‘Free State’ mentality, of having abandoned northern nationalists to their fate, only to condemn the IRA’s campaign against British rule whilst glorifying the IRA of the Tan War period whose actions brought them to power.Put crudely, he says, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s attitude is, ‘Our violence was good, yours bad.’To illustrate this, he gives multiple examples of the ruthless nature of the Tan War, the large number of killings of RIC men, off- and on-duty, the shooting and disappearances of over one hundred informers.