MacFormat 1996 July/macformat-039.iso/DATABASE/SHARED.DIR/01259_37.cap.txt

Text File | 1996-03-14 | 3.4 KB | 210 lines

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Collins was a
member of the
Irish Republican
Brotherhood which,
with Sinn Fein,
led the battle for
independence from
Britain. Collins
was famous for
his exploits, and
in particular for
his ability to
escape capture
while travelling
undisguised on
his bicycle,
around Dublin
#
The 1916 Easter
Rising was a
short-lived
rebellion against
British rule. Its
leaders stormed
the General Post
Office in Dublin,
and declared an
Irish Republic. But
the rebels were
defeated, 3,500
were arrested, and
the leaders were
executed. The
brutality of the
British reprisals
won support for
the republicans
#
With many of
their members
captured and
held in make-
shift prisons,
the Republicans
changed strategy.
Michael Collins
helped start a
campaign of
guerrilla warfare
against the
British, led by
"The Squad", a
team of hit-men
#
Sinn Fein made
sweeping gains in
the 1918 election.
Rather than take
their seats at
Westminster,
Collins and the
other 68 Sinn
Fein MPs set up
an assembly in
Dublin. The
British declared
it illegal, and
rounded up the
leaders. Collins
escaped through
a skylight
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After three years
of bloody battles
between republican
terrorists and the
British Army, a
truce was called
in 1921. An Irish
delegation went
 to London for
peace talks. Among
them was Michael
Collins (centre)
#

#
The 1922-3 civil war was fought between Michael Collins and the new Provisional
Government, and Eamon de Valera, whose hard-line Republicans had the support of
the Irish Republican Army (IRA). De Valera went on to become Ireland's major
political figure
#
In 1922, the Four
Courts building in
Dublin was seized
by the IRA. The
British threatened
to intervene unless
the Irish provi-
sional government
did so. Collins
decided to capture
the building, using
artillery supplied
by the British; it
caught fire. The
event marked the
start of the
civil war
#
When Michael
Collins signed
the Anglo-Irish
Treaty in 1921,
he mused that he
had "signed my
death warrant."
Nine months
later, he was
assassinated in
an ambush by
fellow republicans
@
The partition of
Ireland proved
durable: there was
little IRA activity
through the Forties
and Fifties. But in
1969 a new gener-
ation of political
activists launched
a campaign for
civil rights for the
Catholic minority
in Northern Ireland.
The "Troubles"
began once more
#
The IRA was
well-funded by
Irish-American
sympathisers, its
own rackets, and
benefactors such
as Colonel Gadaffi
of Libya, so it had
access to good
military hardware
such as the AK-47
rifle. And, thanks
to Collins, it could
now draw on years
of experience of
guerrilla warfare
#
In 1972 the British
Government took
back control of
the province from
the Protestant-
run administration.
By then, old cracks
in the republican
movement had
re-appeared: the
IRA split into the
"Official" wing and
the more violently
nationalist
"Provisionals"
#
The Anglo-Irish
Agreement of
1985 marked the
start of a new
phase in cross-
border cooperation,
though it took two
terrifyingly deadly
bomb attacks,
at Enniskillen in
Ireland in 1987
and Warrington in
England in 1993,
to weaken popular
support in Ireland
for the IRA
#
Gerry Adams, the
president of Sinn
Fein, played a
leading role in
the behind-the-
scenes dialogue
which led to the
IRA calling a
ceasefire in
August 1994. A
skilled politician,
he has advanced
the republican
cause with
great success,
particularly in
the United States
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