ABSTRACT

The story of United Kingdom strategy in Northern Ireland is one of missteps, setbacks, and trial and error. It is also a story of evolution. Beginning as a security response, it slowly broadened into a peace process involving the very armed group that had fought to end British rule in Northern Ireland. The British government pursued its political strategy tentatively at first, fighting the Irish Republican Army (IRA) while covertly seeking dialogue. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement was the culmination of the process of persuading the IRA to abandon its armed struggle and decommission its weapons. British involvement in Ireland has had a long, troubled history. Ireland ceased to be a British colony in 1921 when the Anglo-Irish Treaty granted it dominion status. The British Army was deployed that year under Operation Banner. The British government had managed a concurrency of approaches to bring about this outcome.