Nick Maxwell Fianna Fáil expected to lose the vote on the Offences Against the State Act and were preparing to go to the country on a strong law-and-order platform. Ironically, this meant that Fine Gael could be attacked as being soft on the IRA. Fine Gael TDs knew that Fianna Fáil was likely to win a general … Read more
During late August 1969, shortly after the violence that had shaken Belfast and elsewhere, Irish army intelligence gave their assessment of the situation to the Dublin government: ‘. . . some element of [the] IRA was certainly in action in Belfast during [the] night of 14th August . . . as in [the] Bogside, [the] … Read more
Subcommander Marcos: the man and the mask Nick Henck (Duke University Press, $25) ISBN 9780822339953On 1 January 1994 an indigenous rebel army occupied several towns in south-east Mexico, launching an uprising against the government. They came out of nowhere and announced their intention to advance towards Mexico City to overthrow the corrupt regime. The Zapatista … Read more
Contemporary Latin America Ronaldo Munck (Palgrave McMillan, £52.50) ISBN 9780230514942 Given the rapid changes taking place in the continent and wider developments in the global political economy, attempting to capture the reality of contemporary Latin America is a challenging task. The end of the Cold War and the rise of China have combined to create … Read more
As we approach the centenary of the War of Independence there is a growing interest in the period. To date this interest in County Clare has been focused on relatively well-known events, including ambushes, barracks attacks and the deaths of rebel leaders. This is unsurprising, as these events were commemorated annually from the 1940s onwards, … Read more