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Old 02-15-2018, 08:21 PM   #630
tom8517
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The dissident republicans would gladly take up arms again, they don't have the arms to take up. They have some, but nothing near to what they would need to mount anything approaching a significant campaign. At the end of the troubles it was estimated the IRA had weapons on hand enough to field two conventional infantry battalions. Most of this was surrendered during the decommissioning process. No doubt some was held back, some taken by the dissidents, and there is a theory the actual Provos have never really gone away and they stashed a limited quantity of weapons for a desperate turn of events. Same with explosives, not only material but people with the skill to construct a viable device. The pipe bomb is the weapon of a disaffected teenager, not a skilled bomb builder.

Beyond that the IRA's international network no longer exists. Perhaps more importantly, there is no support for a return to the armed struggle. The lot of the average nationalist, while far from ideal, is vastly improved from 1969.

On the loyalist side, given they never actually engaged an armed opponent, I suppose they could resume random murder of random nationalist civilians if they so chose. It might put a dent in their profits from heroin sales.

So, perhaps a few more riots , surely increased polarization, not good by any means, but no return to the bad old days.

Last edited by tom8517; 02-15-2018 at 08:58 PM.
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