Sir, – Conor Brady is mistaken in his assertion that the Irish “State has never sent its military in to confront the citizenry”. (“Jim O’Callaghan crossed a dangerous line when he threatened to call in the Army,” April 19th).
Troops have been called out to support gardaí in far more public order incidents than his article implies. Soldiers with fixed bayonets were deployed in Kilkenny and Tralee during 1933 during clashes between republicans and Blueshirts. In Tralee the army fired tear gas to disperse the crowds.
Armed soldiers were also sent out to quell rioting in Limerick during July 1935. The army was used to prevent republicans attending commemorations at Bodenstown in 1931 and 1936. More recently, Irish soldiers fired CS gas at rioters in Dundalk during September 1972 and rubber bullets at protesters at the Curragh in the same year.
Rubber bullets were fired again by soldiers during confrontations at the funeral of hunger-striker Frank Stagg in February 1976. Troops in riot gear were deployed inside Irish prisons on several occasions during the 1970s, using rubber bullets during disturbances in Portlaoise in December 1974. As late as 1985 they were sent on to Spike Island during rioting by inmates there.
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Soldiers also shot dead a republican prisoner during an escape attempt at Portlaoise in March 1975 and were involved in another deadly confrontation during which a wanted man was killed in Kilkenny in November 1987. It is true that these occasions have been relatively rare; but they are still part of the story of the role the Defence Forces have played in internal security. – Yours, etc,
DR BRIAN HANLEY,
Department of History,
Trinity College Dublin.
Sir, – Conor Brady says “that the State has never sent its military in to confront the citizenry”.
I served in the Irish Defence Forces in the 1980s during the Troubles. I was a member of the 5th Infantry Battalion, stationed at Collins Barracks, Dublin. During the period of unrest after the death of the IRA hunger strikers, there was to be a protest organised at the British embassy.
I was one of 150 soldiers assembled to be sent to the RDS, where we would remain until called upon by gardaí, to be used in aid of Civil Power, if the situation got out of hand. We were armed with FN 7.62mm assault rifles with bayonets fixed and issued with 60 rounds of live ball ammunition per soldier.
If needed, we would be sent to the British embassy, where a red line would be painted on the road; a banner would thereafter be unfurled, which had the following words printed on it in bold red: “Anyone who crosses the red line will be shot”. There was another banner that read: “Disperse now or we will open fire immediately.”
The officer commanding would have made the decision on which banner was unfurled. It turned out that we were not required; the Garda controlled the situation. – Yours, etc,
JOHN O’BRIEN,
Belmayne,
Dublin.
