The Northern Ireland Troubles in Britain : Impacts, Engagements, Legacies and Memories

For the three decades of the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ (1968–98), the United Kingdom experienced within its borders a profound and polarizing conflict. Yet relatively little research has addressed the complex effects, legacies and memories of this conflict in Britain. It occupies a marginal position in British social, cultural and political history, and the experiences and understandings of those in or from Britain who fought in it, were injured or harmed by it, or campaigned against it, have been neglected both in wider scholarship and in public policy. In the peace process since 1994, British initiatives towards ‘post-conflict’ remembering have been limited and fragmented. This ground-breaking book provides the first comprehensive investigation of the history and memory of the Troubles in Britain. It examines the impacts of the conflict upon individual lives, political and social relationships, communities and culture in Britain; and explores how the people of Britain (including its Irish communities) have responded to, and engaged with the conflict, in the context of contested political narratives produced by the State and its opponents.Setting an agenda for further research and public debate, the book demonstrates that ‘unfinished business’ from the conflicted past persists unaddressed in Britain; and advocates the importance of acknowledging legacies, understanding histories, and engaging with memories in the context of peace-building and reconciliation. Contributors include scholars from a wide range of disciplines (social, political and cultural history; politics; media, film and cultural studies; law; literature; performing arts; sociology; peace studies); activists, artists, writers and peace-builders; and people with direct personal experience of the conflict. Cover 1 The Northern Ireland Troubles in Britain 2 Contents 6 List of figures 9 List of tables 10 List of contributors 11 Acknowledgements 20 Abbreviations 21 Introduction: The Northern Ireland Troubles in Britain: impacts, engagements, legacies and memories: Graham Dawson and Stephen Hopkins 24 Part I: Perspectives from the British State, politics and themilitary 42 1 ‘The truth, the whole truth ...’: some British political and military memoirs of the Troubles: John Newsinger 44 2 ‘I got shot through the head with an Armalite round’: Ted Aubertin 59 3 ‘A real stirring in the nation’: military families, British public opinion and withdrawal from Northern Ireland:Paul Dixon 64 4 The memoir writing of the Wilson and Callaghan governments: the Labour Party and constitutional policy in Northern Ireland: Stephen Hopkins 80 5 British questions: Geoffrey Bell 96 6 ‘The coach never arrived back at its destination’: Jenny McMahon 110 7 Serving in troubled times: British military personnel’s memories and accounts of service in Northern Ireland: K. Neil Jenkings and Rachel Woodward 114 Part II: Anti-state activisms 132 8 Something in the air: the rise of the Troops Out Movement: Aly Renwick 134 9 Memories of Sinn Féin Britain, 1975–85: Susan O’Halloran 150 10 Policing the Irish community in Britain: Nadine Finch 160 11 ‘Not our cup of tea’: Irish and British feminist encounters in London during the Troubles: Ann Rossiter 176 12 Political delegations of women from Britain to the North of Ireland and the campaign against strip searching in the 1980s: Di Parkin 192 Part III: Culture and the representation of the Troubles 204 13 ‘Every man an emperor’: the British press, Bloody Sunday and the image of the British Army: Greg McLaughlin and Stephen Baker 206 14 Suspect stories: William Trevor’s portrayals of the Irish in London during the Troubles: Tony Murray 222 15 Writing as survival: Maude Casey 236 16 The ‘oxygen of publicity’ and the suffocation of censorship:national newspaper representations of the British broadcasting ban (1988–94): Max Pettigrew 250 17 ‘The Troubles we’ve seen’: film, television drama and the Northern Irish conflict in Britain: John Hill 266 Part IV: Memory, peace building and ‘dealing with the past’ 284 18 Responding to the IRA bombing campaign in mainland Britain: the case of Warrington: Lesley Lelourec 286 19 ‘There’s no way out but through’: Annie Bowman 302 20 The Birmingham pub bombings, the Irish as a ‘suspect community’ and the memories of the O’Reilly family: Laura O’Reilly 307 21 ‘Truth recovery’ and the role of the security forces in the Northern Ireland Troubles: Aaron Edwards 323 22 Commemorating bonds of Union: remembering the Ulster Special Constabulary at the National Memorial Arboretum: L. J. Armstrong 339 23 ‘I’d find a way to contribute to peace’: Jo Berry 357 24 Performance practices and conflict resolution: Jo Berry and Patrick Magee’s Facing the Enemy: Verity Combe 365 Index 380 This ground-breaking book provides the first comprehensive investigation of the history and memory of the Northern Ireland Troubles in Britain. It examines the impacts of the conflict upon individual lives, political and social relationships, communities and culture in Britain, and explores how the people of Britain (including its Irish communities) have responded to, and engaged with the conflict, in the context of contested political narratives produced by the State and its opponents. Setting an agenda for further research and public debate, the book demonstrates that 'unfinished business' from the conflicted past persists unaddressed in Britain, and advocates the importance of acknowledging legacies, understanding histories and engaging with memories in the context of peace-building and reconciliation. Contributors include scholars from a wide range of disciplines (social, political and cultural history; politics; media, film and cultural studies; law; literature; performing arts; sociology; peace studies); activists, artists, writers and peace-builders; and people with direct personal experience of the conflict.-- Provided by Publisher This book investigates the history of responses to, engagements with and memories of the Northern Irish conflict in Britain, exploring the lessons to be learned from post-conflict efforts to 'deal with the past' in Northern Ireland and providing a starting point for wider academic and public debate in Britain on the significance of this history. -- . Investigating the history of responses to, engagements with and memories of the Northern Irish conflict in Britain, this title explores the lessons to be learned from post-conflict efforts to 'deal with the past' in Northern Ireland and providing a starting point for wider academic and public debate in Britain on the significance of this history