# Why isn't the IRA considered a Terrorist Group? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 16, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674 "2005-04-16T20:45:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ur8it](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecd19e/32.png) [@ur8it](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ur8it)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/1 "2005-04-16T20:45:37Z")
Can someone please explain that one?! They want Ireland’s complete independece, so what? Texas wanted independence too, but if Texans took up arms against Washington, I suspect the threat of a ‘little’ Daisy Cutter Bomb might do the trick to shut them up, so why doesnt Blair, or anyone else of the allied forces stop the IRAs bombings, assassinations, robberies and terrorizing of Irish who are not pro IRA? curious and seeking to be better informed. ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/2 "2005-04-16T20:46:58Z")
This is a joke thread, right? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/3 "2005-04-16T20:50:52Z")
Ummmmm… it is. [http://www.terrorisme.net/p/article\_44.shtml](http://www.terrorisme.net/p/article_44.shtml) for the US designation, if that’s what you’re after. However, the distinction between Sinn Fein and the IRA isn’t easy, although they are obviously connected. Sinn Fein itself cannot be ignored, given that they regularly win seats in Westminster elections, and have significant roles in national Irish elections, and in local Northern Irish politics. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/4 "2005-04-16T20:52:43Z")
Every thing the IRA do and have done is named ‘an act of terrorism’ pretty much universally. So that kinda labels them as terrorists don’t you think? As for the allied forces simply ‘stopping’ it. I’m with **Avenger** (but there is a valid answer as to why it isn’t as simple as thaT) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/5 "2005-04-16T20:53:27Z")
Who said that the IRA isn’t a terrorist group? ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/6 "2005-04-16T20:55:21Z")
I’m still wrestling with the idea of what exactly we would do with the ‘Daisy Cutter Bomb’. _Show_ it to them?? ---
**Author:** ![Domokun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c77e96/32.png) [@Domokun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Domokun)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/7 "2005-04-16T21:10:33Z")
Nothing like a bit of mass murder to shut up those pesky terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/8 "2005-04-16T21:29:11Z")
Through the years some have considered them terrorists and some have considered them freedom fighters. I don’t condon the murder of civilians by anyone – whether it be the IRA, Americans, English, or Iraqi insurgents. But they represented an oppressed people for a long, long time. Unless I’ve missed something, things are much more peaceful now than they were twenty or thirty years ago… or a hundred years ago…or… Think about your analogy of Texas wanting to withdraw from the Union. Now substitute that notion with the idea of the Colonies wanting to separate from England. Were the “patriots” _terrorists_? I would bet that the Tories thought so. I know I’m being simplistic, but it is sometimes a matter of where you grow up and who wins the war. The victors are usually the ones who write the histories, so I am told, and they put a different spin on it than the conquererd would have. Despite my “location” indicator in the upper right, I’m not from Ireland. Just a lover of the poetry of Yeats. I know that my knowledge of the situation is limited ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/9 "2005-04-16T21:33:37Z")
> [@ur8it](#): > > why doesnt Blair, or anyone else of the allied forces stop the IRAs bombings, assassinations, robberies and terrorizing of Irish who are not pro IRA? 1 The provisional IRA has been observing a ceasefire of sorts since 1994. 2 Stopping a terrorist organisation is difficult. Look at Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/10 "2005-04-16T21:33:57Z")
Wow. This **is** a joke, yes? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/11 "2005-04-16T22:25:46Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > Through the years some have considered them terrorists and some have considered them freedom fighters. I don’t condon the murder of civilians by anyone – whether it be the IRA, Americans, English, or Iraqi insurgents. But they represented an oppressed people for a long, long time. The IRA is a fairly recent invention, historically speaking. The people of Northern Ireland voted to remain a part of the United Kingdom, a country in which they have a democratic say. Exactly what’s the oppression they were fighting against? > [@](#): > > Think about your analogy of Texas wanting to withdraw from the Union. Now substitute that notion with the idea of the Colonies wanting to separate from England. Were the “patriots” _terrorists_? I would bet that the Tories thought so. Actually, a lot of them absolutely were. A great many civilians were murdered or abused. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/12 "2005-04-16T22:37:48Z")
> [@](#): > > The IRA is a fairly recent invention, historically speaking. The people of Northern Ireland voted to remain a part of the United Kingdom, a country in which they have a democratic say. Exactly what’s the oppression they were fighting against? The Protestant _majority_ voted to stay, how about them Catholics, who’ve been oppressed and stripped of their rights by that majority. I’m Protestant, and it’s been bad what they’ve done. However, I have no love for the IRA or Sinn Fein, they’re a bunch of bastards as well. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/13 "2005-04-16T22:45:01Z")
> [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > The Protestant _majority_ voted to stay, how about them Catholics, who’ve been oppressed and stripped of their rights by that majority. They got a vote. It’s not as if Cromwell was running England in 1920. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/14 "2005-04-16T22:54:08Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The IRA is a fairly recent invention, historically speaking. The people of Northern Ireland voted to remain a part of the United Kingdom, a country in which they have a democratic say. Exactly what’s the oppression they were fighting against? When exactly did they vote for this? The country was partitioned by treaty. A promised border commission to look at the issue of the border counties with a Nationalist majority never happened. The people of NI voted for the Good Friday agreement with secured the union until a majority vote otherwise. Oppression was very real in the days when the IRA came out of hibernation. A devolved Unionist Stormont government had created a statelet were Catholics were ghettoised, impoverished and made politically impotent. Catholics were on almost every level 2nd class citizen. When Catholics started looking for Civil Rights(not a united Ireland, just civil rights) they were beaten, outlawed and in some cases killed. Out of this anger and frustration came the modern day IRA. ---
**Author:** ![finn007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/90db22/32.png) [@finn007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/finn007)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/15 "2005-04-16T23:13:44Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > They got a vote. It’s not as if Cromwell was running England in 1920. Well, Ireland is possible one of the most complex political issues, that this planet has had. How far do you want to go back. Lets start, with the last **all Ireland i.e 32 counties** elections in 1918.Sinn Fein won over 80 percent of the votes, on a mandate of an independent Ireland. Britian ignored this and hence a war of independence came 1920/22. Partition was imposed on IRELAND by BRITIAN, into a 26 county, now known as the republic of ireland, and a six county n.ireland, on a pure sectarian headcount.No irishman had any say in this arbitrary partition. Sinn Fein, the oldest political party in Ireland, opposed this obvious undemocratic imposition from day one,and the 1918 mandate, is what they use to-day, as justification for what they see as a war of independence. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/16 "2005-04-16T23:24:49Z")
> [@](#): > > **RickJay** : They got a vote. It’s not as if Cromwell was running England in 1920. Too bad they didn’t get to vote before the gerrymandering. The suggestion that the oppression ended with Cromwell does not serve the purpose of fighting ignorance. If you Google “Catholic oppression Ireland” you come up with about 143,000 hits. Take your pick. I am a lover of language and the first one that always comes to my mind – though by no means the worst – was the suppression of the native language (Irish Gaelic). I acknowledge that you and others may fine points to make yet. But I am going to stop posting in this thread. There is no point in opening old wounds, especially just for the sport of it, during a time of peace. FTR, I am a Protestant. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/17 "2005-04-16T23:57:49Z")
> [@finn007](#): > > Sinn Fein, the oldest political party in Ireland, opposed this obvious undemocratic imposition from day one,and the 1918 mandate, is what they use to-day, as justification for what they see as a war of independence. The oldest surviving political party in Ireland is the Labour party. ---
**Author:** ![finn007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/90db22/32.png) [@finn007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/finn007)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/18 "2005-04-17T00:02:39Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > The oldest surviving political party in Ireland is the Labour party. Oh! what labour party are you refering to? ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/19 "2005-04-17T00:12:59Z")
> [@finn007](#): > > Sinn Fein, the oldest political party in Ireland, opposed this obvious undemocratic imposition from day one,and the 1918 mandate, is what they use to-day, as justification for what they see as a war of independence. Wasn’t it, at the time, a means to stop more violence from happening? The Protestants were (relatively speaking) peaceful and the vast majority of Irish in the Free State/Republic were happier to get on with their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674/20 "2005-04-17T00:27:19Z")
> [@finn007](#): > > Oh! what labour party are you refering to? In the Republic: [http://www.labour.ie/](http://www.labour.ie/) In the North, it’s more complicated, as the Labour Party in NI existed independently of the party in Britain, then the republicans split off it to form first the Republican Labour Party, and then the SDLP. Recently, the British Labour Party affiliated itself with the party in NI, but announced it wouldn’t be running candidates, which has pretty much screwed over Unionist Labour supporters. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-ira-considered-a-terrorist-group/299674.md?page=2)