Overview

British troops, which arrived as a temporary measure, would remain in Ireland for the next 38 years. Successive British governments initially claimed the Northern Ireland conflict to be an internal matter but the Republic of Ireland had repeatedly demanded a role, appealing to the UN and US, while across the Atlantic, Irish-American groups applied pressure on Nixon's largely apathetic administration to intervene. Following the introduction of internment and the events of Bloody Sunday, the British were forced to recognise the international dimension of the conflict and begrudgingly began to concede that any solution would rely on Washington and Dublin's involvement. Irish governments seized every opportunity to shape the political initiative that led to Sunningdale and Senator Edward Kennedy became the leading US advocate of American intervention while Nixon, who wanted Britain onside for his Cold War objectives, was faced with increasingly influential domestic pressure groups. Eventually, international involvement in Northern Ireland would play a vital role in shaping the principles on which political agreement was reached - even after the breakdown of the Sunningdale Agreement in May 1974. Using recently released archives in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and United States, Alan MacLeod offers a new interpretation of the early period of Northern Ireland's 'Troubles'.

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9781784535384

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Reviews

MacLeod has produced a compelling and provocative interpretation of the complex Anglo-Irish and trans-Atlantic diplomatic interactions during the early 1970s. His arguments draw on an impressive collection of recently-released primary sources from National Archives on both sides of the Atlantic, the personal papers of many of the key participants, and the collections of some prominent grassroots activists. The result is an important new book that should spark further research into the diplomatic history of Northern Ireland in this crucial period of the `Troubles'. * Journal of Contemporary History *

MacLeod has produced a compelling and provocative interpretation of the complex Anglo-Irish and trans-Atlantic diplomatic interactions during the early 1970s. His arguments draw on an impressive collection of recently-released primary sources from National Archives on both sides of the Atlantic, the personal papers of many of the key participants, and the collections of some prominent grassroots activists. The result is an important new book that should spark further research into the diplomatic history of Northern Ireland in this crucial period of the ‘Troubles’. * Journal of Contemporary History *

Author Information

Alan MacLeod is Research Fellow at the University of Leeds and an expert on the Northern Ireland peace process and its international dimensions. He gained his PhD at Glasgow University.

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