Green Book (IRA)

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The Green Book ( English The Green Book , Irish An Leabhar Uaine ) was a manual that the Irish Republican Army , or later the Provos , gave to people who approached the underground organization to find admission. In addition to an extremely republican presentation of recent Irish history, it also included the formulation of the IRA's declared goals and its self-image. Further chapters deal with combat tactics, internal security and, above all, conduct in the event of arrest and interrogation.

history

The Green Book was published in two editions, the first around the mid-1950s, later - around 1977 - the much better known second edition.

This book describes the strictly republican view of Irish history. The last all-Irish parliament, the Second Dáil of 1921 , is of great importance in this. Sinn Féin had a majority in it and voted against the division of Ireland. The separation of Northern Ireland in the same year as part of the implementation of the Anglo-Irish Treaty is viewed as a betrayal of the Irish people. The IRA concludes that all subsequent parliaments, both the Belfast Parliament and the Dáil Éireann in Dublin, are illegitimate. Until reunification is complete, the IRA sees itself not only as a regular army for the liberation of Ireland, but also regards its governing body (the Army Council ) as a provisional government:

In 1938 the seven surviving faithful Republican Deputies delegated executive powers to the Army Council of the IRA as per the 1921 resolution. In 1969 the sole surviving Deputy, Joseph Clarke, reaffirmed publicly that the then Provisional Army Council and its successors were the inheritors of the first and second Dail as a Provisional Government.

aims

While the first edition sees the reunification of Ireland as the goal of the struggle, this later becomes the intermediate stage on the way to a democratic and socialist republic. It should be noted that the attitude towards ideological questions is shaped by pragmatism. Socialist ideas played a major role within the leadership of the IRA, especially insofar as it hoped for advantages with ideological proximity to international independence movements. However, as soon as a shift to the left threatened to offend the Catholic population or supporters from the United States, overly anti-capitalist theses were also revised. In addition to Ireland's independence, the IRA is also striving for its cultural independence and also hopes for the restoration of Irish as the main language of the country.

secrecy

Statements on the internal security of the IRA only appeared in the 2nd edition of the Green Book. The additions took account of the successes of the British secret services, which decimated the staffing strength of the IRA decisively with their reconnaissance successes. At the time the new edition was being formulated, the military command structure was being restructured within the IRA, away from traditional units such as companies and battalions towards a more streamlined cell structure. The background to this were repeated cases in which individual activists collapsed after their arrest in the subsequent interrogation and revealed several dozen names. Future recruits have now been advised not to join the IRA lightly. As members of a banned organization, they would have a high probability of being arrested and imprisoned for several years. They are urged not to talk about their convictions or even their IRA membership under any circumstances. Careless chatting under the influence of alcohol is cited as one of the highest safety risks. In the event of arrest, the reader is strongly ordered not to give any information and to remain silent under all circumstances. The background to this was the fact that although the Royal Ulster Constabulary could arrest people without an arrest warrant and detain them for up to seven days without giving a reason, they were then forced to release them if no suspicions were substantiated. According to the statements, the following interrogation methods were to be expected during this period:

  • humiliation
  • psychological torture
  • physical violence

In addition to its function as the IRA's political manifesto, training in how to resist in interrogation situations is the real meaning of the Green Book. Before the publication of the 77 edition, IRA members who made confessions during their interrogation could only expect to be expelled from the organization and to be avoided in prison by other IRA inmates. After that, confessors could no longer expect such leniency.

literature