The murder yesterday of Ronan Kerr, a Catholic PSNI officer, by violent Republicans has brought condemnation from across the political spectrum and left many asking who could believe that the seemingly arbitrary killing of unarmed police officers could advance the cause of Irish unity. The blame for this violence has often been pinned on a ‘blood lust’ and those responsible have been accused of having ‘no strategy’. Although it is true that these groups maintain that violent resistance is a duty (post to follow in the coming days on the ideology of violent Republicans), this violence is not arbitrarily applied.
Anti Good Friday Agreement Republican’s see the GFA as an attempt to ‘normalise’ British rule in Ireland, with the replacement of the RUC with the PSNI, a cosmetic change designed to ‘trick’ Catholics into accepting, and indeed, enforcing ‘foreign rule’. In an interview with the Irish News in 2010, Óglaigh na hÉireann stated that their strategy is to ‘expose the myth of normalisation’. The killing of Ronan Kerr is an attempt to enact this strategy.
Attacking PSNI officers generally, and Catholic officers specifically, serves two main purposes. The first of these is an attempt to derail ‘normalisation’ through turning the PSNI into a ‘force under fire’, like the RUC before it. A police force under constant threat of death has great difficulty acting in a normal fashion and engaging with the communities it hopes to Police. The second reason the attack on Constable Kerr is significant, like the previous attempt on the life of Constable Peadar Heffron, is that these officers were Catholics. It is much harder to portray the PSNI as a Colonial Militia when Irish speaking GAA captains such as Constable Heffron are a part of that force; as such the targeting of Catholics is intended to discourage Catholics from joining the PSNI and to again turn policing in the North into the sole preserve of Protestants. This attempt to undermine the legitimacy and cross community nature of the PSNI and link it to the distrusted RUC also has a political element. Non violent anti Good Friday Agreement groups such as éirígí oppose the PSNI and distribute posters and leaflets which read ‘Different name, same aim’.
A long running tactic of Armed Republican groups has been to garner support from within the nationalist community through a tough line on drug dealers and ‘hoods’, carrying out punishment shootings and beatings. An effective PSNI which deals adequately with crime blocks this potential avenue of support, making it all the more necessary for anti GFA Republicans to undermine the PSNI and ensure that the priorities of the force shift away from dealing with every day criminal issues towards tackling violent groups. This could potentially manifest itself through the PSNI making the same mistakes as the RUC before it, recruiting petty criminals and drug dealers from within the Nationalist community as informants, turning a blind eye to their actions in exchange for information on Republicans.
If this strategy of undoing ‘normalisation’ succeeds, the next steps seem less important, one member of IR.NET, a popular Republican forum, crudely summed up the position as follows:
[T]he feeling of the war will be everywhere once again and the spirit of Irish republicanism will spark in many of them, this is how we got some of the greatest volunteers during the conflict.
Violent Republicans kill to engender a reaction from the establishment, to bring Ireland back to the ‘troubles’. To over militarise the response to this killing, and those that will inevitably occur in the future, would be to play right into their hands.
Hey Ross.
Just wondering – Whats an overly militarised establishment response to this killing? something less than rolling in the tanks but more than mere investigations?
Perhaps militarised wasn’t the best word to use. My point is that the main strength of the PSNI is how ‘normal’ it is compared to the RUC which at times bordered on acting like a military rather than a policing force. For anecdotal evidence of this watch the first few minutes of force under fire (link in the text).
Sadly I believe that Ronan Kerr won’t be the last member of the PSNI to die at the hands of anti GFA Republicans, and as casualties mount the PSNI must be vigilant against making the same mistakes as its predecessor.
Good post ross.
The point about the PSNI is a crucial one. The singer song writer Ciaran Murphy wrote a song not so long ago called, ‘they’ll always be the RUC to me’.
The last day or two has very much brought home to me that that simply isn’t the way that the bulk of republican communities see it. Dont get me wrong, thats not to say that they love the cops, they very often dont, but they simply arent the RUC in their eyes. Adams statement on this was interesting, i think there was an element of hyperbole there, but maybe not that far off, and republicans are genuinely angry, to a degree that even I am surprised at.
Which makes me wonder what these people are at.
Actions such as these, far from showing up the PSNI as forces of occupation, actually underscore the changed nature of it, given the young mans, and his bereaved family’s, profiles.
Add to the mix, in Omagh of all places, and the day of a mini marathon, and in the run up to an election.
The rhetoric that could be made around smashing normalisation and sending a message is obvious. But equally its obvious, that even were you to accept their world view, that this makes very little strategic sense. It has been a propoganda disaster for them in all reality, but weirdly, Im not sure that that will worry them.
Whatever view you take of previous armed campaigns, or indeed war generally, I think it particularly immoral to kill, without the possibility, or even the illusion of the possibility, of success. It is just an end in itself.
I think this incident, or more properly, the reaction to it as of course it would be far preferable if the Kerr family werent bereaved, has strengthened the peace process and the institutions, which is surely not what the intention was.
But that last sentence is crucial. They need to be very careful to ensure that the perception of the PSNI isnt the same as that of the RUC. The ending of 50-50 recruitment in that context is a questionable, if understandable, decision
Terrific article Ross.
Now that we know what the problem is, how do we/the powers solve it?
How large is the group of sympathisers on the island?
Are we sacrificing the needs of the nation as the majority sees it to appease the feelings of a few?
Keeper lit!
To use an idiom, some in Ireland cannot see the wood for trees.
If one day they are able to take a holistic perspective, then maybe they can see that we do not need anymore violence.
Many, especially those within the Unionist communities, believe that Ireland will be united in the coming decades. Irish unity seems a matter of inevitability, not a matter of conflict triumph. Varying reasons are given for this, and the ways in which it will materialise. Cross party representation north and south; as MP’s sit in London, TD’s may sit in Dublin. An interesting thought, having one state represented in two, catering for differing beliefs; quite a precedent would be set. If it makes both communities happy that they are being represented and cared for in a national context, then why not?
In any case, there is no appetite for violence within both communities. People want prosperity, and the freedom to live their lives without bounds, or fear of conflict. Yes, there were/are compromises to be made, as there always will be. However, it equates to peace and greater equality. In an altruistic sense, if you had two pairs of shoes, and seen a stranger with none, would you not give them the extra pair? Of course you would.
Obviously im not suggesting that people should start giving away shoes, merely realise that people are, in the end, just people. No matter the reasons for peoples being in Ireland in the first place, they are here and are just as much Irish (or British) as someone with a greater historical context. Peoples have, and still do migrate. In fact, we (global population) do it now more than we have ever done. In the natural order of things they assimilate into that society, add their cultural tones, and become a part of it.
In order for this unprecedented exercise to be given a chance, it needs the room to breathe and prosper in itself, for the betterment of everyone. Not the cruel killing of an unarmed man. What is being attempted in Northern Ireland is a beautiful, highly commendable thing. Two peoples, willing to talk, without guns or bombs, just words. As a civilisation we kill to easy; Libya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Bosnia, Russia, Poland, Germany, Namibia, the list goes on. What about a list for nations that have “worked it out”. The list would not be a list, more of a footnote.