Publisher's Synopsis
This book analyses the popular notion that the IRA, backed by Sinn Féin and Gerry Adams, and the Protestant paramilitary and Paisleyite groups in Northern Ireland are mirror images of each other. Using their periodicals and pamphlets it is demonstrated that these violently antagonistic groups, when not directly borrowing each other?s tactics, unconsciously converge in their attitudes to violence, education, economic strategies and sometimes Irish language and culture. Even their totally different interpretations of people and events demonstrate a common pattern of stylised antagonism. Provisionals, for example, condemn Catholic bishops as agents of the British government, while Protestant loyalists see these bishops as IRA organisers. Many books have been based on interviews with spokespeople for Northern Ireland extreme groups but this is the first systematic study of the rich published sources thrown up by the recent conflict. It concludes bleakly that a continuing balance, or stalemate is likely. -
