Books by Tommy McKearney

Until the Stormont Assembly collapsed in 2017, Northern Ireland had often been promoted in mainstream media as a newly prosperous, modern, post-conflict society. Written to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, this book argues that the seeds of recent problems were sown back in 1998 when the agreement was signed.

This book analyses the underlying reasons behind the formation of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), its development, where this current in Irish republicanism is at present and its prospects for the future.*BR**BR*Tommy McKearney, a former IRA member who was part of the 1980 hunger strike, challenges the misconception that the Provisional IRA was only, or even wholly, about ending partition and uniting Ireland. He argues that while these objectives were always the core and headline demands of the organisation, opposition to the old Northern Ireland state was a major dynamic for the IRA's armed campaign. As he explores the makeup and strategy of the IRA he is not uncritical, examining alternative options available to the movement at different periods, arguing that its inability to develop a clear socialist programme has limited its effectiveness and reach.*BR**BR*This authoritative and engaging history provides a fascinating insight into the workings and dynamics of a modern resistance movement.