Talk:Irish Republican Army

Moved from the article.
Proposed new version (not mine, some new guy's). Discuss:

The Irish Republican Army or IRA, (Irish: Óglaigh na hÉireann) has a history dating back to before the 1919 Easter Rising, before which it was known as the 'Irish Republican Brotherhood'. It was originally led by Michael Collins and future Taoiseach Eamon De Valera. The organisation split shortly after due to the breakout of the Irish civil war between the free state forces and anti-partition rebels. The organisation reformed in Northern Ireland around the end of the 1960's, due to what was percieved by the nationalist community as infringements of their civil liberties, in particular the shooting dead of 14 unarmed catholic civillians by British paratroopers in Londonderry during the 1972 bloody Sunday massacre.

Theory of Practice Years of being an atheist: 30. Instances of persecution on that account: 0. 20:50, 15 July 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm not knowledgeable about the IRA or Northern Irish politics in any practical way, but I do know that it's a very deeply divided and partisan issue. Rather than have RW hold only one single partisan view, would it be feasible to present both sides' argument? Unless RW is going to collectively pick a side (anti- or pro-IRA), it seems that the most rational way would be to include both and make this very clear. I'm not one to advocate always hearing both sides of a story and giving them equal time, since much of what RW deals with is woo and creationist bullshit that should never be granted equal time, but this is an ideological and political dispute rather than turning to Barry who believes that the sky is a carpet painted by God. Ochotonaprincepsnot a pokémon 21:49, 15 July 2012 (UTC)

Not a very rational article......
This existing page reads like it was written by someone with crass ignorance of the subject matter. I don't know who wrote this page, but it displays a poor understanding of the complex history surrounding the history of the IRA and Ireland. The IRA weren't 'catholic', they were Marxist atheists. &mdash; Unsigned, by: Thomas81 / talk / contribs

don't expect these folks to be too rational. But it isn't just rationalwiki's fault. A lot of people don't realize that many Irish Republicans like Eamon de Valera and Moss Twomey were very traditional and conservative, as were many others. The party was taken over by leftists who cared little for traditional Ireland or it's Catholic heritage but the conservative voice still represents the voice of many people. The politics, unfortunately is dominated by Dublin, where such idiotic leftists ideas have always held sway. Burkean (talk) 19:22, 13 October 2013 (UTC)


 * I agree with Thomas' statement here, especially considering the sources used for the article. British sources form the vast majority, though it seems as though Irish sources would be more proper. The BBC isn't exactly known for unbiased coverage of the situation in Northern Ireland, and so I think more appropriate sources ought to be used. I would compare it to using 1940s German documents to give us an accurate depiction of Jewish life, and the political issues in Palestine. There is an evidence crassness present in the article, and perhaps it should at least have some sort of a bias to it, as that'd be more fitting to RationalWiki's apparent tastes. It reads very dryly, and is as comprehensive and knowledgeable as a 1980s English textbook regarding the Troubles. Cappuccino4242 20:01, 25 March 2018 (UTC)