Modern Irish republicanism: The product of British state strategies

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Abstract
The dynamic behind modern Irish republicanism is not an aspiration to complete the ‘unfinished business’. It is the structural exclusion, perceived and real, experienced by nationalists within the North of Ireland. Republicanism crystallises opposition to this exclusion. The British state has only ever had one consistent strategic objective ‐ to render ineffectual the military capacity of the IRA. This strategic thread has weaved its way through all major British state initiatives from Sunningdale to the Downing Street Declaration. Tracing the evolution of republican thinking and responses to Sunningdale, the Anglo Irish Agreement and the Downing Street Declaration, illustrates to what extent the British state has been successful in securing its strategic objectives.

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