A History of Ireland in Song

INLA

An acronym for Irish National Liberation Army. Their political wing is the IRSP.

The INLA was formed in 1974 as a split from the Official IRA. Two factors went into its formation: firstly, a perceived lack of "social radicalism" in the Provisional IRA; and secondly, a tightening-up of IRA recruitment procedures that left a lot of young lads wanting to "have a go" at the Brits without any outlet for their aspirations more organised than rioting. A third point should also be mentioned, that whereas the IRA at this time was an army with a political party attached, the INLA was intended to be the army of a political party, the IRSP. Practice, however, did not conform to theory. Indeed, one of the founding members, Bernadette McAliskey, left within a year because of "militarism".

The INLA were perceived by the British as potentially very dangerous indeed, especially after the killing of Airey Neave in 1979. A wave of state-sponsored assassinations followed, directed, significantly, against the political leadership in the IRSP. Miriam Daly and Ronnie Bunting were both killed; Bernadette McAliskey, though no longer a member, narrowly escaped death. With the "civilian leadership" gone, the INLA degenerated rapidly. Although INLA prisoners played a prominent role in the H Block Hunger Strikes, things outside weren't going too well. Dominic McGlinchey became leader in 1982, and there followed some of the most reckless acts committed during "the troubles". The INLA essentially tore itself apart in 1987, with internal feuding leading to the INLA/IPLO split. This split may have been engineered by the forces of the crown. Certainly, the IPLO were essentially gangsters. But the root of the problem would seem to be the INLA's lax recruiting methods and, a related issue, its penetration by British agents. Even after the demise of the IPLO, sporadic feuding seems to have continued in the INLA as late as 1996, with the shooting of Geno Gallager in Belfast.

The INLA, like the Provisional IRA, is now (Feb 2001) on ceasefire. While it is only a shadow of the organisation it once was, it does still possess a core of volunteers, sufficent arms and equipment for them, and an efficient fund-raising machine.

The truth about the INLA is hard to get at. There is a tendency even in quarters sympathetic to Republicanism to dismiss them as "mad dogs". But mad dogs patently don't carry out sophisticated operations such as the assasination of Airey Neave. Certainly, they possessed a degree of ruthlessness which lead them to get involved in operations which the IRA was increasingly reluctant to engage in, notoriously "tit for tat" murders of ordinary Protestants in response to loyalist murders of randomly chosen Catholics. The INLA seems now to be putting that behind them, and have for instance attempted to engage in talks with the UVF, in a bid to prevent further outbreaks of sectarian killing.

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