ABSTRACT
The teachings of the Catholic Church have always been based upon a strong presumption against war or any form of direct violence. This is because any form of violence, whether it is perpetrated by the state or by paramilitary organisations, hinders the development of human rights and the common good. Daly is perhaps best known for his denunciation of the IRA’s argument in favour of their just war position. He held that Republicans were not engaged in a just war but instead were destroying the very communities that they arguably defended. Daly’s rejection of the IRA’s argument centred upon the fourth condition of a just war that ‘the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated.’ As far as Daly was concerned, those using just war doctrine did not understand it and were consequently misapplying it. In his writings on the British governments there is little to be found regarding the personal salvation of ministers of state, soldiers, or police personnel. Instead, Daly sought to hold a mirror up to their actions in order to arouse their consciences, leading them to consider the process of long-term reform needed for the Peaceable Kingdom to emerge rather than remaining wedded to the paradigm of short-termism which characterised British efforts at resolving the crisis in Northern Ireland. His teachings, therefore, were intended to interrupt the cycle of both governmental and paramilitary oppression because those advocating it ‘seek first to raise the consciousness of individuals, to awaken their human dignity, and to break down the alienation that helps to keep them oppressed.’ This, Daly hoped, would leave people open to creating and working towards the alternative possible future in Northern Ireland based upon Christ’s Peaceable Kingdom as described in the Gospels.
