How did the Irish Republican army defeat the British in northern Ireland?

supersheepincognito

There is a lot of stuff given as answers here which is blatantly false or completely misrepresents the situation in Northern Ireland. I'm going to attempt to clear it up.
Firstly, it is correct that the IRA never defeated the British militarily. Some areas, admittedly, were no-go for the British, such as South Armagh or Free Derry, but they were the exception.
Secondly, the moves for peace were largely due to Sinn Fein. In the aftermath of the seizure of the Eksund and the abandonment of the IRA's planned "Tet Offensive" which was intended to defeat the British Army militarily, the conception of a political path to peace advanced by Gerry Adams and the like came to the forefront in Sinn Fein. Using a variety of go-betweens such as Fr Alec Reid, they began to make contact with the British government.
Thirdly, the conflict in the north was never between Protestants and Catholics. It was between Loyalists and Republicans. Just because the two sides were largely made up of one denomination does not make them religious.
Fourthly, the British soldiers were originally sent in to protect the Catholics, this is entirely true. However, it was their complete failure to do anything of the sort, and their bias in favour of the government and Loyalists, that led to the formation of the Provisional IRA and most of the fighting that happened during the Troubles.
Fifthly, the IRA was the only grouping in Northern Ireland which attacked more legitimate targets (and by this I mean security forces and paramilitaries) than civilians - 524 out of 1707 of their victims were civilians. For comparison, the UVF killed 359 civilians out of 427 total victims. This is not to justify the IRA's attacks on civilians by any means, merely to point out that they were generally pursuing attacks on military enemies rather than the sectarian violence of the Loyalists.

http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/crosstabs.html for lists of deaths in NI due to the conflict.

Smartpants

The IRA did not defeat the British Army militarily.

Rather the British Government - through intermediaries such as the SDLP - opened up dialogue with Sinn Fein (the political arm of the IRA) which led to a ceasefire. Once the ceasefire was in place, peace negotiations began, leading ultimately to the setting up of the Northern Irish Assembly which includes members from Sinn Fein as well as the loyalist political parties.

Carry On..!

They didn't..you really need to check before posting incorrect questions on here.

Apron Boobsface

They didn't. Northern Ireland is still part of Britain. Britain slowly started withdrawing troops when times started to become more peaceful

flintguy49

Are you from some different universe? Like one where the south wins the civil war? And Germany Wins the first world war? Or another drunk Irishman?

Croxx

Well that is news to me - they did not where are you getting your information from?

robert c

I think some one has been on the Guinness here!The British were not defeated!It all ended with the Good Friday Agreement!Also the IRA lost a lot of USA support when the terrorists bought down the Twin Towers on 9/11

DOOM

They didn't. The IRA laid down arms sometime last year.

aptce63

Why do people take the bait? Anyone can ask a reckless question and to answer is only fuel to an idiot.
The fool probably meant the P.I.R.A. anyhow.

ianhad

They did not. Also England NEVER invaded Ireland, see link below.

Private

Tony Blair surrendered to them in his "historic peace treaty" aka power sharing agenda.

It is very much symbolic of New Labour to surrender to people who plant bombs in pubs and shopping centres.Deal drugs,run extortion rackets,rob banks and manipulate teenagers from deprived areas to plant nail bombs to kill innocents for a cause they dont even understand.

The British were not defeated,they were betrayed by Tony Blair.
I pray for the murdered souls and their families.I am sorry that you were killed to enhance Blairs legacy.

Britains hard stance on terrorism initiated by Mrs Thatcher has dissolved into offices in Westminster and huge expense accounts for Mcguinness and Adams.Bombing ones way into power and parliament is now testimony to the success of terrorism and crime under New labour.

May Tony Blair burn in hellfire for his treachery.

edit@borredos.
Norther Ireland is British.It was created under the terms of Irish independence.Agreed by the Irish.The Republic of Ireland has no legitimate claim to Northern Ireland whatsoever.
Moreover,the people of Northern Ireland are British and want to remain British.
Should these people be abandoned?
These people have endured hardships and great loss of life at the hands of terrorists.It is betrayal in the extreme,to sell out these people and those who died defending them.Most of all,in a global climate of terror,Tony Blair committed the cardinal sin of surrendering to terrorism.This isnt peace,this is cowardice.

I am so glad that Churchill didnt allow the Germans to invade,in thwe name of "peace".

tom_p1980

By blowing up innocent civilians.

the devil wears camo

another inane question ,your knowledge of Irish history if nothing else should show you that as the British army could not be beaten the IRA choose to declare a ceasefire and negotiate instead,good choice really as it indubitably saved hundreds of more innocent lives,of course you could argue that blowing up women and children is easier then fighting soldiers but that would to near the truth for you,never mind,as an attention seeking question you got mine,for all the wrong reasons.

Gerry Atrix

False assumption.
The politicians finally saw sense.

Neil T

They did not.

sargeantpepper999

The IRA never beat the british army, otherwise there would be a united ireland with a socialist government. 'Smartpant's answer above is the most accurate but basically the IRA realised that their campaign of killing, bombing & organised crime wasn't getting them anywhere and after 9/11 they knew americans would no longer tolerate & support terrorism. Even though, some republicans are still shooting & bombing in Northern Ireland today in an attempt to restart the 'troubles'.

Answer Me!

Are you thick? How exactly did they win?
Northern Ireland remains part of the UK and probably will do until the happy day when Dublin finally agrees to take it off our hands and pay out the massive welfare bill instead of us.
I wouldn't call that a victory would you?

Dan H

Blitzy the IRA aren't part of the Republic of Ireland.

Beastie

Nah mate, the IRA never beat anyone.

I appreciate you might well have a skewed and ever so slightly biased view of it, but I don't primarily because the people of Northern Ireland can choose what they want to do. It's none of my business.

However, I do pay attention. Sinn Fein and the DUP effectively came to an agreement on running the province that involved the IRA putting it's weapons beyond use.

Now, funny old thing this, laying down your weapons is not normally considered being on the winning side.

Northern Ireland got something resembling peace because everyone agreed to stop fighting.

You aren't going to convince anyone that it was ever anything else.

And for your information, the IRA, like all terrorists everywhere, are nothing more than murdering, cowardly scum. Claiming you are a freedom fighter makes not a single solitary bit of difference.

Bamford1000

@ Blitzy

Most of the British Army have gone home, and they were sent there in the first place to protect the Catholics.

Protestant Paramilitaries are just as nasty as the IRA, and there wouldn't have been peace if we just withdrew at the height of the troubles, there would have been civil war and a blood bath.

There was also the possibility of sectarianism spilling on to the streets of cities such as Glasgow.

Americans don't seem to realise that support for the IRA can get you killed in places like Belfast and Glasgow, there are plenty of UVF nutters out there with their red hand badges and union jacks.

UVF

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFLl3FrQmwM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKtbTicEtkQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUCFS50WpQM&feature=related

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UDA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Volunteer_Force

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyalist_Volunteer_Force

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2412947.ece

boreddossedstuck

I for one am happy that my country has been defeated. Defeated to the point that any future troubles can now be largely ignorred by my government and the fortunes of the people so intent upon celebrating the essence of their disparity can be left to the UN.
Defeated, and yet paying expenses of a few token gesture half-wits rather than the astronomical expenditure of a full military policing policy.
Defeated and yet not defeated enough to be fully independent of a province that has bled British coffers for decades and provided little more than a military training centre.

God it feels good to be defeated.

Why can't the rest of the Union take the hint also.

blitzy

This is the first I heard if they did, There is The Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland The British do not run The Republic much to their dismay.The fighting between them has a lot to do with religion as much as anything else....It could all be resolved if Britain would do what it should
GET OUT OF IRELAND

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