ABSTRACT
By the mid-1970s British troops had been involved in the conflict in Northern Ireland for six years. They had, during that period, turned from protectors of the Catholic communities into a force that was, on the whole, geared to the defeat of the PI RA. Part of the task had inevitably involved taking action against the very people they had been initially deployed to defend. So me progress had been made in dealing with the military situation, not least the Army could claim some success against the PIRA in the cities. But the price of that success had been bought by estrangement from the Catholic communities. This in turn meant that there was little hope of a political settlement. Westminster determined to change the equation with a new security policy which had enormous implications for the military and its role in Northern Ireland.
