ABSTRACT

By 1971, after more than two years of the ‘Troubles’, the Northern Ireland (NI) community was extremely polarised. Catholics continued to seek reforms within NI while the Irish Republican Army (IRA) campaign sought to undermine the province’s position within the United Kingdom. The differences between the legitimate objectives pursued by nationalists, reform within Northern Ireland and the aim of a united Ireland by constitutional means, and the illegitimate use of violence and coercion through a republican terrorist campaign were often confused by loyalists hearing similar messages from nationalists and militant republicans alike. The loyalist sense of fear and isolation was further increased by statements from British sources which appeared to echo the nationalist argument that the island of Ireland (rather than Northern Ireland or the British Isles as unionists would see it) was the geographical area to be considered in any political debate.