Anglo-Irish conflict

Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM

Anglo-Irish conflict 1974

by Sean Swaby

with help from Eoin Sayers, Peter Ward(stodge),

Graham Kelly and Peter David Hall

Translations from English-Gaelic for the TL: (note there should be an accent on some vowels such as the “i” in some words like “Gardai” and one “a” in Uachtaran but, well I don’t have that feature, so any and all purist Gaelic speakers, please forgive):

President- Uachtaran

Prime Minister- Taoiseach

Vice Prime Minister- Tanaiste or Vice Taoiseach

Oireachtas- Parliament (which includes the Taoiseach and two houses: the Dail and the Seanad (Senate))

Garda- Police (Gardai is plural)

Timeline:

January 30th,1972- Bloody Sunday is bloodier! IRA gunmen who are in the civil rights march with concealed weapons return fire when British soldiers fire into the crowd originally killing 13 and wounding 14. Having fire returned, the British paras continue to fire trying to gun down their opponents disguised in the crowd. Sense finally returns to the British paras and they cease-fire and take cover. The IRA gunmen take that moment to beat a hasty retreat back into the streets and back-allys of Londonderry. At the end of the day 48 people died and 24 were wounded. Of the dead 10 were British paras, 6 were IRA gunmen and 32 were civilians. Of the wounded 20 were civilians and 1 was a paralysed IRA man and 3 were paras.

1972- Direct rule established from Westminster, 4000 extra British troops brought in to tear down "no go" zones.

1973- Sunningdale Agreement. Council of Ireland. [The INLA was formed in 1975 according the BBC due to disaffection about the ceasefire among some PIRA members. However since I have a good TL going here, I will have to take a bit of liberty and have a group of IRA and PIRA members who think unification is not coming soon enough form the Irish Liberation Army (ILA) in 1972 in opposition to the direct rule from Westminster and that in 1974 the group changed its name to the Irish National Liberation Army or INLA, thus we have an INLA being formed three (or one) years (year) earlier.]

May 14th,1974- Ulster Council Workers Strike. Strike is called when a motion condemning both the power-sharing of the Sunningdale Agreement and the Council of Ireland was defeated in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Strike lasts for two weeks and cripples Northern Irish economy. Brian Faulkner, chief minister in the power-sharing executive, resigned, effectively ending the power-sharing experiment and the Council of Ireland collapses along with it. Direct Rule by Westminster is re-established. Protestants across Ulster celebrate the recent turn of events.

May 29th, 1974- The PIRA and INLA see the return to Direct Rule and the dissolution of the Council of Ireland as "a step back in the struggle to free all of Ireland" and plot to make the British and Protestant Irish in Northern Ireland regret the day Direct Rule was restored. The "revenge plot" is due to start after June 29th.

June 1st-28th, 1974- PIRA and INLA members begin cooperation on the grand plot which also involves members of the Irish government that are committed to reunifying Ireland "at all costs". Some weapons are procured from the Irish military (mostly those weapons in stock houses) to help move the plot along.

June 29th, 1974- the first day in what is planned to be a month of some of the worst violence yet seen has arrived. The Ulster towns of Belfast, Bangor, Londonderry and Armagh are the first to feel the pain over an 8-day period. Two bombs go off in the Protestant areas of Belfast, one in Bangor, one in Londonderry and three in Armagh. Immediately after the Bangor bomb, INLA gunmen were waiting (this was at night) in the vicinity to start gunning down people fleeing in the panic. In all 70 people died. During the next week bombs were exploded in Liverpool, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Birmingham (with a follow up shooting incident in Birmingham) killing around 58 people including 2 Canadian tourists, 3 Americans, 4 Turks, 5 West Germans and 1 Australian. In the third week bombings and shootings occur in Manchester, Glasgow, Swansea, Dover, and South Hampton. The death toll for those 5 cities was 65. In the fourth and last week of the INLA-PIRA campaign bombs went off in London, York, Sheffield and Bristol. In York the bomb levelled a government building in the early hours of the morning (not many people had shown up for work as yet). The death toll in London alone was 33 when 6 bombs went off, one near Parliament, and INLA-PIRA gunmen carried out some sniping of police forces coming in to restore order. The fourth week was the bloodiest with 78 dead in all four cities. The total death toll for the July attacks amounted to 271 with an extra 60 wounded (with 20 in critical condition) in total. Of the 271 dead, 15 were tourists and 3 were dual nationals (having British and other citizenship). The BBC, Times and other News Media soon dub the whole incident Bloody July. Shortly after the whole incident, Parliament (almost unanimously) passed a new Prevention of Terrorism Act [pretty much like the one in OTL].
The magnitude of the weekly (almost daily) bombings and shootings meant that one big story in the third week in July, the beginning of real trouble on Cyprus with a coup and a Turkish invasion, had to share front page coverage with the bombings.

August 1974- MI6 and MI5 launch investigations into Bloody July and soon are carrying out a joint-investigation. By August 15th they have found solid evidence that "elements" of the Irish government as well as members of Ireland's defence forces knew of and were involved in the whole affair. The joint MI6-MI5 report is presented to Prime Minister Harold Wilson. PM Wilson then presents the report (edited to protect valuable sources but without withholding important info) to Parliament in a special session on August 18th. The British govt. then makes public to the world their findings. Needless to say their findings shock many around the globe. The British government on August 20th makes a list of demands on President/Uachtaran Erskine Hamilton Childers and PM/Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave's Irish govt. as follows:

(1) The Irish govt. should fire/sack those government employees and/or ministers involved in Bloody July and should extradite them to the UK for trial.

(2) The Irish govt. should no longer give any form of support (moral, financial, material or otherwise) to the PIRA, INLA and any other violent groups operating in Ulster and the rest of the UK.

(3) The Irish govt. should aid in the capture of terrorists and extradite them to the UK for trial.

(4) The Irish govt. should shut down all offices, bases, training facilities and related institutions of the terrorists on the territory of the Republic of Ireland

(5) The Irish govt. should freeze all local and foreign assets of the terrorists.

(6) The Irish govt. should pay compensation to the family of the victims

(7) To show that it is committed to a peaceful resolution of the Northern Irish dispute the Irish govt. should amend articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution which basically lay claim to Northern Ireland.

The USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the rest of the Commonwealth, Japan, Spain, Portugal and France (who has similar problems in Corsica) all voluntarily freeze the assets of the PIRA, IRA, and INLA and their supporters on their soil. Switzerland does the same a week later but keeps the accounts closed/frozen secret in custom with its bank secrecy laws. The USSR, Warsaw Pact nations, Yugoslavia and China all express sympathy for the UK and support the UK's govt.'s demands. West Germany, Italy, Greece and Turkey soon after follow the example of the Americans, Canadians and so forth.

Turkey restarts its offensive in Cyprus on August 14 after the failure of talks between Turkey, Greece, the Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots and British over the island's future. Turkey had been steadily increasing its area of control during the cease-fire instigated on July 23rd. Now that Cyprus seems to have spun out of control, PM Wilson authorised the British military on island to evacuate any remaining British citizens (tourists and residents) in the areas being (or about to be) occupied by Turkey. By the end of the Turkish offensive, 37% of the island would be in Turkey's hands. Due to intense pressure by the USA (and the fall of the military government in Athens a couple days after the beginning of the Turkish invasion in July) the threat of war between Greece and Turkey had vastly diminished. Now with the start of the new Turkish offensive, relations between Greece and Turkey again soured and NATO called for a special summit at which Greece and Turkey were pressured (with threats of sanctions and probable US intervention) into toning down their offensive language and standing down their military forces in the regions of Thrace and the Aegean islands.

August 29th, 1974- The Irish govt. denies any involvement in Bloody July and to having any links with the INLA or PIRA and said that it regretted the deaths of so many innocents at the hands of rogue members of legitimate rebel groups/freedom fighters. The Irish govt. then offered to help hunt down those specifically responsible for Bloody July's killings.
In Washington the new President Ford meets with his advisers about the sudden Irish crisis. Throughout the evening and into the night they argue over what course of action should be taken. Some say that the Irish govt. should give in to Britain's demands especially in light of the evidence produced, though they do concede that Britain's demands could be eased. The majority though argue for the USA to act as a mediator. By 9pm Ford decides that he will take the course of mediation.
In Brussels the British ambassador to NATO and various other British officials with links to NATO are informed that NATO would wish for a peaceful resolution and offered its good services for negotiation. This message was forwarded to the British government which adopted a wait and see attitude with regards to the need for NATO's services.

August 30th, 1974- The British govt. said the Irish reply was an insult and unacceptable and that if the Irish govt would not agree to Britain's demands then it must resign since, as one British minister put it, " No country should be run by criminals! And criminals they are by their mere association with the thugs who perpetuated Bloody July!”
As the crisis seems to heat up daily, Ford decides to send Secretary of State Kissinger to London and Dublin. Whilst Kissinger boards a plane that very evening on his way to Europe, Ford finds two additional intermediaries to send to Dublin: Teddy Kennedy and Tip O'Neill. These two men are to fly into Dublin and try to get the Irish govt. to agree to any plan that Kissinger may come up with that will diffuse the crisis.
NATO now forwards its offer as a mediator to the Irish government, which informs NATO that its services may be called upon in the future. The Irish government wishes first, however, to obtain assurances from NATO that it will not aid Britain in acting against Ireland. NATO reassures Ireland that NATO would not carry out offensive operations against Ireland and that it desired peace...

August 31st, 1974- The Irish govt. refused to resign and said it will not be threatened by anybody. Britain, on the same day, then issued a deadline/ultimatum for the Irish govt. to agree to the demands or to resign..........................

September 1st, 1974- Kissinger has been in discussion with his British counterparts for almost two days now and has gotten the British to extend their ultimatum. Kissinger would have preferred that the ultimatum be dropped, however the British rightly saw that such a move would be interpreted as weakness on their part. The British also decide to downgrade their planned response once the deadline expires.
In Dublin, Kennedy and O'Neill meet with Irish government officials, but still find them insisting that they had no knowledge of the attacks and that they will not accept Britain's demands.

September 2nd, 1974- Faced with a suddenly burgeoning crisis over the North, Taoiseach Cosgrave decides that he needs to get to root of this matter and see for himself what is really going on, while the Americans attempt to cool things down. He launches a very discreet investigation by Irish police/Gardai whom he knows are completely loyal to the Irish govt. and have exemplary records. The detectives and regular police begin trailing members of the Dail and Seanad as well as some retired officers in the Irish Army (and some officers still commissioned in the Army).
Cosgrave also decides to take up NATO's offer and within a few days, NATO sends a delegation consisting of Belgian, West German, Norwegian and Italian representatives to Dublin where they begin to try and get the Irish to accept a deal and where they also try to get the British to soften their demands. At times the NATO delegation even works with Kissinger, Kennedy and O'Neill.

September 3rd, 1974- In Brussels (again) the EC also threw in its two bits about wanting peace and called for a special summit by the 20th, involving its new members. There was also thoughts about sending a team, but nothing came of it.

September 4th, 1974- Initial results are pleasing to Cosgrave; no evidence has turned up so far of any involvement by any Irish government members or armed forces members in Bloody July. He now thinks he was right to reject the British demands and not give in to their ultimatum just yet. Meanwhile, across the Irish Sea, preparations are underway for a covert operation (or operation) by the SAS to capture or kill those implicated of involvement by the joint MI5/MI6 investigation. This operation would involve the RAF, Royal Marines and RN (Royal Navy) to some extent and British Army regulars will be on hand in Northern Ireland near the border to assist if it becomes necessary.

September 5th, 1974- Today, Cosgrave gets news that hits him like a tonne of bricks. The police/Garda investigation has photographed all 7 of Britain's main suspects, as well as some people not implicated by the British, either contacting PIRA gunmen or dropping off supplies or payments for the PIRA to pick up later. Cosgrave is now in a bind. He certainly can't tolerate this activity, but after telling the world of his govt.'s innocence he would look rather incompetent to suddenly agree with the British claim. However he knows he must do what is right before the British act and now ponders on whether to or not to tell the British privately or tell the world publicly.
While Cosgrave is deep in thought, Kissinger is being very busy and is now in Dublin and is presenting a proposal to the Irish: if they accept the first 6 demands then the British will drop the seventh demand about amending the constitution. To Kissinger's dismay the Irish, after some pleading and discussion with Kennedy and O'Neill (both of whom are now Ford's special envoys) and even the NATO delegates, again deny that anybody in government had any involvement in Bloody July and having any links with the INLA or PIRA (Cosgrave has not informed anyone yet of the results of the investigation) and said that it regretted the deaths and basically offered to accept demands 3, 4, and 5 in relation to those who specifically carried out the killings. The British said this was an improvement in the Irish position but that it still did not go far enough and until the Irish accepted Kissinger's package the 7 demands would still stand.
In the Vatican, meanwhile, the Pope had issued a statement calling for peace in all of Ireland and Britain and urging both sides to do whatever they could to facilitate a speedy, and peaceful end to the crisis.

September 6th, 1974- In a small pub, just outside Dublin, one of the police in the secret investigation sits down to get a drink and starts chatting with the man next to him.... an "officer" in the PIRA. He tells the PIRA contact about the investigation and that it has found out more than the British did. Once this news is relayed to the PIRA leaders and the INLA a contingency plan is called into action. The contingency plan calls for the Cosgrave to be threatened not to tell and if he still gives any indication of revealing the results of the investigation, then he will be murdered............

September 8th 1974- Taoiseach Cosgrave receives a letter this morning (typed of course) that explicitly warns him that if he so much as utters a word about the investigation results he will have his body pumped with lead (bullets that is). And just to make sure he gets the message, a team of PIRA men break into his residence (after gassing the guards (unconscious) and cutting the circuits for the alarms) and give Cosgrave a rather surprising and frightening wake up call at 1am in the morning.
Kissinger returns to the United States for a few days but remains in contact with the British and Irish governments almost constantly by phone. Meanwhile, President Ford gives ex-President Nixon a full pardon.

September 9th, 1974- Cosgrave, after overcoming the initial shock of seeing masked men threaten him in his own home at 1 in the morning, is now quite furious about the whole incident and those behind it. These ruthless thugs have brought Ireland to brink of war with the UK (and Eire is still on the brink). In the morning Cosgrave contacts Attorney General, Minister of Justice, Minister of Defence, Chief of the General Staff and Commissioner of the Garda for a special secret meeting. He knows he can trust them as the police investigation (which was expanded, after turning up positive results, to monitoring all high and medium level govt. officials). He tells them about his investigation and proposes that they (all 6 of them) form the core an anti-conspiracy task force. Some of those gathered advocate an immediate arrest of those culprits while others argue for a waiting period to build up a coordinated police assault on the "terrorist thugs". The Attorney General even proposes working with the British, though due to current Anglo-Irish relations (as pointed out by the Defence Minister), this would be very difficult and would not assure the results that direct Irish police action would (since the coordination with the British might run into snags- like what if the British want to send police south of the border to aid in the arrests? This wouldn't be popular at all). Meanwhile Cosgrave makes up his mind to tell Parliament and the world about the plot. As the meeting ends Cosgrave contact Uachtaran/President Childers and informs him of everything to date and promises to keep him up-to-date on all matters concerning his task force hence forth.

September 10th, 1974- The PIRA and INLA were quite sure that Cosgrave couldn't be trusted to just keep quiet after a couple threats and so had assigned tails to watch his every move (or almost every move). The tails dutifully reported Cosgrave's contact with 5 other prominent govt. officials. They were unable to hear what was discussed though the PIRA and INLA leadership figured it was about the plot. There was a great argument over what was to be done next. Some argued for Cosgrave to be assassinated, while others were horrified at the prospect of murdering a leader of the Irish Republic. The “assassins” faction cited Cosgrave as a direct threat to their benefactors and members and also cited that his party (the Fine Gael) had its origins in the party that sustained the government of the “British lackey” Free State. They also argued that should his elimination be blamed on the Unionists or even the British government, then support of the IRA, PIRA, INLA and other liberation groups would grow in all of Ireland, that the British would get more repressive and the North of Ireland (i.e. Northern Ireland) would become more restive and support for union with the Republic would grow as would British sentiment for releasing a troublesome province. The “assassins” won out in the end and the PIRA and INLA leadership then sent out the order that Cosgrave was to be eliminated as he had become too great a threat and that the other 5 officials should be "adequately warned" about their possible future (or lack of) if they spilled the word.

September 12th, 1974- Kissinger returns to London and again settles in for lengthy discussions. He finds that some British officials are quite disinterested in immediately talking with him, as though they have come to some decision without him. Kissinger still continues the negotiations, though and tries to persuade the British to not only drop the seventh demand but to amend the second demand as well to read “(2) The Irish govt. should not give any form of support (moral, financial, material or otherwise) violence as a tactic by the PIRA, INLA and any other nationalist groups operating in Ulster and the rest of the UK.” The British negotiators are unwilling to change this demand because, they say, the PIRA and INLA and many other “nationalist groups” are violent groups by character and unlikely to change their ways. They say that the proposed change could give the Irish government a loophole to continue giving support per se to these groups and that such support will be “misused” for violent means. The British are already fed up that the Irish have repeatedly not extradited past suspects in other terrorist incidents such as shootings and bombings, terrorist incidents which continue to this day, the officials say, and the suspects of which are being conveniently ignored by the Irish. The officials also state that they are tired of the Irish excuse as they see it, that they have no laws pertaining to such terrorist incidents and the extradition of the perpetrators.
Kissinger retires to his room at 11pm that night, having gotten no more concessions from the British.

September 13th, 1974- PM Wilson decides with his advisers that Britain just cannot wait any longer and must at least send a message. The original plan for the SAS involved nabbing the Irish government members involved, but those 5 prominent politicians were taken off the list, as kidnapping another country's politicians would certainly look bad in the press. Instead the two military officers as well as a few new people (PIRA agents and a couple retired officers) identified by MI6 are added to the list. Wilson gives the go ahead and the SAS send in about 5 squads (at night) to do the job. 3 squads dress in civvies (civilian clothing) and take a cars (or vans) south across the border (they have special permission so the border guards wave them through). The other 2 are dropped in a few miles southwest of Dublin by helicopters. The 3 squads in vehicles (bought by MI6 in Eire a week before) approach their designated targets and surround the households. Not wanting to draw too much attention with sub-machine guns the SAS are armed with Walther PPK pistols. The 2 squads near Dublin also surround their targets.
The SAS meet with mixed success. Of the 3 squads in the northern part of the Irish Republic, 2 have captured their targets (1 even got a bonus target as an extra PIRA man was meeting with their targets in the basement). The third squad's target had decided to take this night to go to a local pub and try to meet some ladies or get drunk or both. The squads around Dublin also have mixed success. One squad's mission goes off without a hitch, but the second one encounters a PIRA guard who had been assigned to hide across the street in an abandoned house to watch the street. Using his pistol the guard managed to wound 2 SAS troopers via sniping. The noise of the pistol alerts a couple other guards around the back of the house and a firefight starts with one of the guards being killed and the other wounded. In the confusion one of the SAS targets just manages to escape when his captor is hit in the arm. The SAS decide to get out of the area before the Gardai arrive. Back in the open field the SAS and their captives are loaded onto the two helos, which fly back to British carrier waiting in the Irish Sea. In the north, the 3 Squads make it back across the border in their vehicles without incident. The PIRA men are given a good beating and handed over to the RUC while the military men (active and retired) are held captive by the SAS. Back in Ireland the escaped captive would have a lot of explaining to do when the Gardai arrive and see him with one dead PIRA man and another wounded. He decides to drop the wounded off outside the hospital and then to take off. He figures the doctors will quickly find the wounded man and take care of him.

September 14th, 1974- Reports of the firefight and missing persons by people in the neighbourhoods are initially considered to be part of some gangwarfare. However one particular sleepless Irish woman reports to the Irish Times that it was no gang warfare and she saw "armed people carrying out kidnappings". She also reported that they acted quite professional and threw in an exaggeration that they carried rifles like those in the British military. Well by noon that day rumour was rife that the British had done something the night before. Back in London, Wilson decides that he would like to reveal the operation at the time of his choosing and not have any rumour reporting false information being reported by the Irish. So he makes a tape to be aired on national TV the very next morning as the Irish papers are about to be delivered. In it he states that Britain had sent a message to the Irish that "they must act to stop these terrorists or Britain will be forced to act as it did over 24 hours ago." He then goes on to state that the men captured in that raid were known PIRA men and associates involved in Bloody July. He decides to deliver the message, as he is sure that with one survivor to tell the tale the PIRA will already know what had happened.

September 15th, 1974- The tape airs and many Britons support the raid. Wilson's popularity sky-rockets. Around the world the Irish govt. condemned "this violation of sovereignty" and in a private message Cosgrave pleads with the British to refrain from further raids. Most Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders support the raid. The rest of the world (in the UN General Assembly) call on Britain "to show restraint and to work with Ireland towards a solution."
In Washington, Ford speaks out against the raid, calling it an unnecessary escalation and echoes the General Assembly in calling for a peaceful resolution. He then contacts Kissinger, Kennedy and O’Neill and directs them to get any form of a settlement possible as quickly as can be humanly done. Ford’s handling of the crisis is becoming unpopular by the minute, as he seems to have almost impotent by having little control over events.
In Brussels, NATO also spoke out against the raid, stating that the situation could still be resolved peacefully. Some EC member states began calling for a suspension of membership by both Britain and Ireland until the crisis was resolved (this was not received well in London or Dublin and a debate raged over whether either nation should even attend the summit). In the Vatican meanwhile, the Pope condemned the British raid as a threat to peace. The Vatican's stance followed the UN's line and helped harden the hearts of the Irish negotiating with the British
By now the UN had assembled a team to go to the British Isles and aid the Americans and NATO in negotiating a settlement.
In Moscow, the Soviets insist that Britain was "right to strike against the terrorists" and in the UN the Soviets said nothing/abstained when the General Assembly spoke out against the raid (thus giving tacit support to British action in Ireland).

September 16th, 1974- Kissinger,aided by the UN team, tells Kennedy and O’Neill,now working fully with the NATO delegates, if his proposed revision of the second demand and the special envoys redouble their efforts and finally manage to get the Irish officials to agree to demands 3, 4, 5 and a revised second demand. When presented to the British, the Irish proposal is again deemed to be an improvement but that it falls short in not accepting the first and sixth demands which the British will not drop because they say the Irish government should own up to the fact that even some low level government employees were involved and that the Irish government should take responsibility and pay compensation.

September 18th, 1974- Taoiseach Cosgrave calls together all the members of his task force and the head of his investigation in a secret meeting at the house of a prominent Dublin businessman (and supporter of the governing party) to outline a plan to arrests the conspirators.
After some haggling they agree that carrying out the arrests on a Sunday during Mass would be best as the conspirators might be on their lowest guard then, however the current situation dictated faster action and it is finally agreed that the arrests would be carried out the day after the next day (to allow time for the arrest warrants and for the police to plan a coordinated action). After the British raid, all thoughts of cooperating with the British to arrest the men are dropped. Cosgrave stresses they need to act quickly before things get too out of hand and warns that the British may not stay their hand much longer. After the arrests, the Irish government will then try and sentence all suspects locally and offer to compensate the families of the victims, mostly with money raised from the auction of the seized assets of the suspects when they are convicted. The British will still say that the first demand has not been met, so they all agree that it doesn’t make sense to accept that demand from now. Outside two vans pull up, one with Eire licence plates, the other with Ulster ones. The PIRA/INLA hit squads inside are armed with British sub machine guns stolen from Ulster security forces. The first hit squad kills the guards with silenced pistols (as it is a secret meeting there are only a few guards) and the second squad rushes in to the house at the same time with guns a-blazing. The first squad stands guard outside watching for anyone they may have missed and allowing witnesses to see the British guns and the Ulster licence plate. Witnesses of course see the guns and plate (especially after being alerted by the sub-machine gun fire). The second squad rushes out of the building and back into their van. Both vans (with their squads) then rush off leaving Ireland's leadership dead and dieing inside the house.
The commissioner of the Garda and the Attorney General aren't dead as yet but as they were being rushed to the hospital (they were unconscious due to massive blood loss) the Garda commissioner died and the Attorney General died in surgery.

September 19th, 1974- As the news spread the day before about Ireland's leadership being murdered, chaos broke out in some parts of Ireland and once word got round about the British submachine guns and Ulster van, there were many anti-British demonstrations and riots. Wilson had learned of the whole thing before anyone else in the UK of course and was busy discussing the consequences of the murders, while ordering another investigation. In Northern Ireland, Catholic-Protestant violence flared to the highest levels yet as the Catholics protested alleged British involvement. Fights broke out, including firefights and after a couple Protestants were killed, Catholic homes were burned in retribution. For a full day the RUC and even the British paras could not establish order.
In the Dail and Seanad, those politicians involved in Bloody Sunday accused Unionists terrorists affiliated with the British security forces for the murders.
In Dublin, Kennedy and O’Neill are told flatly that the Irish government will now refuse all the British demands unless the British find and reign in the Unionist terrorists that killed Cosgrave and other members of government and unless the British seriously crackdown on Unionist terrorists. Only then, they say will they fully accept demands 2, 3,4, 5 and maybe 6. Kennedy and O’Neill contact Kissinger and Ford and say that now the situation has become just about hopeless and that they will technically be doing nothing from here on in, unless the Irish are soothed by the British carrying out their own requests. Ford the calls both envoys home for “consultation”. The NATO delegates also report to Brussels that the situation now seems hopeless, but are instructed to remain in Dublin for at least a few days more to try and work out a settlement, even though the Americans are going home.
In London, Kissinger is told that all the Unionist groups have denied carrying out the murders and that British security forces had no hand in the murders. Thus to the British, the Irish requests concerning the terrorists before negotiations continue are moot.

September 20th, 1974- The arrests don't happen as plans for the arrests had not even been officially issued and the only ones with knowledge of the plans were all dead now. Eire is in turmoil and in Dublin a govt. of National Unity (essentially a coalition government) is established by the pledge of all the parties (Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour and even Sinn Fein) to cooperate and an the vice Taoiseach/ Tanaiste takes over the role as head of government. This Tanaiste does not hate the British, but following public sentiment and he promises to "crack down on the Unionists terrorists that committed this atrocity." In Northern Ireland things do not look good as more riots ensue and more arson occurs and the RUC and paras have trouble controlling some of the crowds/mobs. The fire services are also facing trouble as the number of arsons is beginning to increase beyond their control. Many Catholics near the border now begin fleeing south with whatever belongings they can. Irish citizens south of the border take them in and the National Unity govt. states that it will set up temporary camps for those who have not found a home. The govt. also urges citizens to "take in your brothers and sisters in need from the north."

September 22, 1974- MI6 reports that all her contacts and agents in Ireland now refuse to cooperate and MI5’s links in Northern Ireland are now frayed also. The only thing both agencies can positively report to Wilson is that no Unionist organisation actively planned and carried out the murders. That of course does not answer the question of who did it, and it still leaves open the possibility that a few rogues in the Unionist terrorist groups may have actually done it. With no conclusive evidence to the contrary Wilson cannot deny the Irish claims that Unionist terrorists murdered the members of the Irish establishment. Wilson does however have conclusive evidence that no British security forces were involved and firmly denies this in his dealings with his Irish counterpart. As the situation deteriorates, Wilson decides that he must stand firm with his own demands (all of them now) and prepare for the worst.
British offers to aid in the investigation of the murders are rebuffed later in the day by Irish officials.
Later in the day, the NATO delegation is informed that its services are no longer required and the NATO delegates board the late night flight to Brussels to report the failure of talks to their superiors.

September 23rd, 1974- The Tanaiste is in a meeting with his new cabinet as they decide on the next course of action to follow. Many clamour for recalling the Irish ambassador to London as a sign of protest and also for the safety of the ambassador. The Tanaiste agrees though the recalling of the ambassador for "discussions" will not occur until around the time of Cosgrave's funeral, which is to occur in about a week.
In Australia, New Zealand and Canada there are protests in front of the British High Commission against the actions of the British govt. These protestors are varied somewhat, though a lot of them are descendants of Irish immigrants or recent Irish immigrants. Others though are peace activists who don't want to see an Anglo-Irish war. These activists protest not only British action, but also the action of the PIRA and the Irish govt. Meanwhile counter-protests in favour of the British occur in front of the British High Commission and the Irish embassy (some of the anti-British protestors have supportive protests outside the embassy and of course the activists just protest). Tensions are high between the two groups and in Ottawa and Wellington, riots break out between the two groups. In Canberra what occurs is just general street fighting with less destruction of surrounding property (except for the walls of the High Commission and Embassy). Police are quickly called in to restore order and after another hour of riots, Ottawa is calm again. In Wellington the police stop the riots about an hour-and-a-half after being called in. The Australian police stop the fighting in about 1/2 an hour and many of the protestors are locked up. Many of the NZer (Enzeder) and Canadian rioters also find themselves in jail for at least the night. In response to these riots and fights, the Canadian, Australian and New Zealander govts. forbade demonstrations in front of the Irish embassy or British High Commission.
In the USA, the govt. expresses support for the British govt. but urges restraint on its part. The US govt. also expresses sympathy for the new Irish govt. in its grief and offers "its good services to help find those responsible" for the assassination of top members of the former Irish government.

In London, Wilson was supposed to call for elections in October but now calls for elections to be delayed at least until the situation with Ireland improves. In Parliament, just about all the MPs concur due to the gravity of the Irish crisis.

September 25th, 1974- Wilson's government is arguing whether to recall the British Ambassador to Dublin. Some say that it should be done as a sign of protest and for the ambassador's safety. Others say the ambassador and his staff should stay to show Britain has no intention of cutting off relations with the new Irish govt. (no matter how anti-British they may seem to be at the moment). By the end of the day, no consensus has been achieved and the argument is postponed till the next day. In Eire, the PIRA man wounded on Sept. 13th during the British raid has been discharged from the hospital....right into Garda custody. The Gardai question him intensively and he does reveal exactly what happened on the night of the raid. The Gardai also interrogate him as to the activities of the PIRA with regards to Bloody July, but he denies knowing anything. As he is a PIRA man (and he couldn't keep that a secret consider the type of injury and the timing of the injury from the British) the Gardai formally arrest him for involvement in terror activities. They also decide to keep him in custody for fear of his own safety as now that he has talked some PIRA members may decide to stop him talking any further.

September 26th, 1974- In the early hours of the morning a PIRA/INLA hit team manage to break into the Embassy (secretly of course) and assassinate the British ambassador and some of his staff whilst they are having breakfast. About half of the team doesn't make it out of the Embassy as they are either killed or seriously wounded by the gunfire from the British guards. Those not killed are taken into custody and have their wounds treated (the British guards want these men to live so that they can talk or be forced to talk).
The news of the assassination is the first thing that Wilson hears from his intelligence staff as he is just finishing breakfast. Within the hour the news makes its way to the BBC and the whole nation knows about it by late morning. This causes many protestors to gather in front of the Irish Embassy and demonstrate. Shortly after some people in the crowd begin throwing Molotov cocktails, bricks, rocks, rotten eggs (among other things) onto the Embassy wall and into the compound. Many of the Embassy windows are broken and a small fire starts inside the building. This is quickly put out and the police are called in to cordon off the Embassy from the protestors (though not stop the protests themselves).
Wilson addresses the government that afternoon (after meeting with his cabinet and intelligence and security chiefs) and calls the assassination a "vile and devious act". The British government then reiterates the British demands from Bloody July (this time with reference to the assassins of the ambassador) and begins contemplating new demands, such as the seizure of illegal arms flowing to Eire and the stopping of even legal guns sent to Eire by Irish expats in countries such as the USA. Some in the British government call for Eire to hold fresh elections to put in power a legitimate government. These calls are quickly hushed as inflammatory.
In Eire, the acting government decides to recall the ambassador for fear of safety and temporarily close down the embassy for an "indefinite period of time".
In Northern Ireland, the Catholic-Protestant fighting reaches a new peak, as do the cases of arson. Many Catholics continue to flee the violence and cross the border into Eire. The govt. of Eire considers setting up refugee camps if the capacity of the average citizen to house these fleeing Catholics is exceeded. At first however, the govt. sets up some of these displaced Catholics in hotels.
In Australia, Canada and New Zealand many protest the assassination of the British Ambassador and the respective governments of these countries express support and sympathy for Britain and call on the Republic of Ireland to find the perpetrators. In Canberra, Ottawa and Wellington there are also closed room discussions by the governments as to whether or not to assist Britain secretly by sending in their own special forces. The debate continues well into the night and is postponed till the next day (the next day the deadlock continues and the debate is once again postponed till the 4 days later).

September 27th, 1974- With the murder of the British ambassador and the British now refusing to change any demands, Kissinger contacts Ford and informs him that the situation is now out of his hands. Ford then tries one more attempt and instructs Kissinger to forwards a message to Dublin and London: The United States is quite willing to offer agents from the FBI and CIA to aid in the respective investigations by both governments.
Kissinger then forwards the message first to the British officials he is meeting with. They say they would be glad for any cooperation the United States would offer, but that they already have a list of suspects for Bloody July (and the same list is applied in the case of the Ambassador’s assassination) and that only the Irish government murders is unresolved. As the Irish refuse British aid and as their own contacts will not talk, the British government has decided to forego the investigation and assume the murders to be the work of rogue Unionists or the work of Nationalist terrorists.
Having had the British decline the offer, Kissinger then forwards his message via phone to Dublin, where the government also politely declines as they have “leads” implicating Unionists and are doing quite fine on their own.
Kissinger informs Ford of the replies and is called home for “consultation".
Now only the UN team remained with representatives in Dublin and London. Of course, the UN team was not exactly being given full cooperation by either the British or the Irish and it seemed to the world that the UN team now had little purpose except to show the UN's commitment to a peaceful resolution.

September 28th, 1974- The Irish Ambassador and his entire staff leave London in the very early hours of the morning to avoid protestors. However on his way to the airport his car is stoned and at one point before the police can get control, protestors begin rocking his car back and forth. Finally he makes it to the airport and as his plane takes off many protestors cheer his departure with calls his never coming back and what they would do if he did. In Eire, more Gardai and fire-fighters are sent northwards towards the border with Northern Ireland. As a sign of heightened tensions, the usually unarmed Gardai are now being issued batons, tear gas and some are even receiving small arms (along with training). Irish Army units are also sent north on the orders of the Defence Minister (with the approval of Uachtaran Childers). The crisis has reached a new low now and it seems as though Eire and Britain will descend even further......

September 30th, 1974- PM Harold Wilson and his government are having frequent discussions of what to do next. Despite some heated debates, it is generally agreed that now Britain needs to do some broad planning, as the situation seems to slide even further into conflict. First it is decided that plans need to be made for all possibilities. So further SAS operations are planned. They are divided into 3 groups: high profile operations, middle profile operations and low profile operations. The low profile operations consist of SAS teams ambling south of the border or being inserted by helicopter and/or ship and seizing common PIRA and INLA men. The middle profile operations consist of SAS teams seizing common PIRA-INLA men as well as somewhat prominent members of Irish society (e.g. retired Irish Army officers, big-businessmen, etc.) via the same methods. The high profile operations consist of seizing all those on the lists of the mid-profile operation as well as the few Irish politicians who knew or were involved in Bloody July. It is generally agreed that the mid-profile and high profile operations will only be carried out if the situation deteriorates beyond the level of governmental talks (i.e. all relations are broken off and a state of conflict would exist between the 2 governments). The low profile operations are approved for immediate execution, however, but there are stipulations: the operations must not be too frequent (so one operation cannot occur the day after another one) and they must be almost fool-proof (the government wants no mix-ups this time and wants the operations to be carried out only if they can go off without a hitch). The PIRA-INLA men captured and any prominent Irishmen seized, would be treated as criminals of course and not POWs. The government also instructs the Ministry of Defence and General Staff to start planning for “all eventualities”. Over the next couple weeks, the British military makes plans for all sorts of operations, from limited operations to guerrilla campaign to all out war (both long war and short war campaigns). The short-war scenario runs like this: Once it has been proven that the Irish government has no intention of aiding the British (even secretly) in clamping down on PIRA-INLA activities and instead clamours for full reunification of all of Ireland (and gives even moral support for the PIRA-INLA to attack British military targets) then the British and Irish governments would be in a state of conflict/war. SAS and Royal Marines would then be sent in to seize the Irish government in all major towns. Being airdropped into most of them or landing by sea. After all those in the govt. having an anti-British stance have been captured or killed then the troops would then withdrawn once a the remaining Irish govt. pledged to crackdown on the PIRA and INLA and promised to only support peaceful groups advocating the unification of Ireland by democratic means, though they would remain in ships offshore or in helicopters on stand-by, and the British would request that the remaining politicians have a fresh-election and that it would be ready to give Ireland a say in how Northern Ireland is run, provided there is a clampdown on the PIRA and INLA. The long-war scenario would have British Army troops moving south of the border and Army and Marines landing at coastal cities all over Ireland. The SAS would still play a role but its role will be less prominent.
October 2, 1974- In the Garda HQ at Phoenix Park, Dublin, the new Commissioner (one of the former Deputy Commissioners) is facing a dilemma: He has information about the PIRA-INLA plot and just how deep it has permeated, while at the same time the Tanaiste is focusing on Unionist terrorists first and foremost and unlikely to go through with the massive arrest plans of the late Cosgrave, while the alleged Unionist murderers are still at large. The Commissioner of course has no doubt the PIRA and INLA killed Cosgrave and his ministers, but is now very much afraid that should he say anything, he would also be killed. He also has no direct proof of PIRA-INLA involvement in the murders, so going forward with his belief to the Tanaiste might get him reprimanded and discredited. His one source of consolation is the fact that he is not alone: several police officers and some of the deputy ministers have some or total knowledge about the terrorist plot and also suspect the PIRA and INLA as being the perpetrators of Cosgrave’s murder. He decides that he must contact those who are trustworthy and plot secretly as well.
“Yes,” he says, “that is what I must do.”
Then he gets up and makes a phone call.
A new secret investigation is launched involving the cream of the Garda, and within 2 weeks (due to the Cosgrave murderers not exactly boasting about their feats) they had solid proof of the PIRA-INLA murder plot.

October 4th, 1974- At 10 Downing Street, Wilson receives a top-secret letter from the Canadian PM. This is the third top-secret letter from one of the 3 other prominent Commonwealth Countries in 2 days. He had received two letters the day before, one from the Australian PM and one from the New Zealand PM. Both contained roughly the same message and he expected the same message to be enclosed in the Canadian letter.
It was: The Canadian government was offering the services of its special forces to take part in operations in Northern Ireland and (more controversially) in the Republic of Ireland to seize terrorists and prevent terrorist activities. The Canadian government stressed though that their special forces would not be involved in taking Irish government officials.
Wilson got his secretary to draft a letter, identical to the ones sent to Canberra and Wellington the day before, thanking the Canadians immensely for their support and accepting the offer.

October 6th, 1974- The Defence Minister, with the approval of Childers instructs the Irish Army that they now have a “free hand” to restore order in the border region up to and including crossing the border with Garda units to detain arsonists and other thugs and to chase militant “Orangemen” who may come across the border into Eire to stir up trouble. The local commanders of Irish Army and Garda units in the north decide not act immediately and the Irish Garda commander even sends a secret message to the British border guards, British Army and RUC offering assistance in curbing violence and even offering to give the British overall command if the Irish Garda are allowed on British soil. He also informs them that the National Unity government had authorised the Irish Garda and Army to cross the border at will and pleaded with the British, in his message, to allow his units to cross and help peacefully before the government orders them across violently.
The British Army commander, duly informs his government of the Irish authorisation and recommends that the Gardai are allowed to cross peacefully so the crisis does not heat up. Nothing comes of his recommendation.

October 7th, 1974- Wilson now faces a new problem. For all events and purposes the move of the Irish National Unity govt. has broken off all relations with Britain and has placed both countries in a state of war by allowing for his armed forces to cross into British territory. That should automatically kick-start Operation Javelin or Operation Harp, the small and big war operations respectively. However; it seems as though there are some in the Irish establishment that would very much like to avoid a major conflagration and Wilson does not want to turn any Irishmen to the side of any ardent anti-British members of the National Unity government, i.e. the Sinn Fein members. He decides to authorise the middle profile operations for the SAS and also to order the General Staff to re-plan for a mini-war as opposed to a small war.

October 8th, 1974- The ASAS, NZSAS and Canadian special forces all arrived within days of each other in Belfast and set up headquarters with the British SAS in Northern Ireland. They were all about to be sent on their first mission very soon…..
Meanwhile in Eire, the Irish Garda Commissioner learned of the secret message sent to the British forces directly from the local commander himself and soon the nexus of a plan came to him. He knew his thoughts were extremely dangerous and could even lead to his own death, but he had no wish to see his homeland beset by war…again.

October 9th, 1974- The Irish Army Chief and the Garda Commissioner met and discussed the Garda plan and endorsed after much debate and the presentation of Garda evidence to date (which was enough to convince the Army Chief). Their meeting arose no suspicion in the PIRA and INLA as they were supposedly discussing “contingency measures” for Northern Ireland. The Garda-Army plan as it would be called was due to come into effect within 2 weeks. The Army Chief had wanted 4 weeks, but the Garda Commissioner pointed out that time was of the essence and that in 4 weeks their own plot could be unveiled to the terrorists.

October 14th, 1974- The Gardai finaaly obtain all the evidence they need to convict many PIRA and INLA men and to fully implement the new Garda-Army plan. The plan is due to take effect on October 26.

October 16th, 1974- Wilson receives a report that the Irish Defence Minister and Justice Minister (with Childers’ authority) have ordered the Army, Garda and Fire Brigade to cross the border in exactly one week. No stipulation, no reservations. Just a straight order to do the job he had tasked them with before (at their will then) but now at his will as they showed themselves reluctant. Wilson gives the order for Operation Javelin to commence in one week, shortly after the Irish were supposed to cross the border. Meanwhile on the same day, the SAS and Commowealth Special Forces (as the ASAS, NZSAS and Canadian special forces were collectively called) carried out the largest raid yet and seized 40 PIRA-INLA men including two top members of the INLA and killed 16 PIRA-INLA men including one top PIRA man. With Operation Javelin due to start in a week the Commonwealth Special Forces and SAS sent some men to be stationed permanently in Eire in preparation for the coming military operations….

October 23rd, 1974- In the early hours of the morning Royal Marines crossed the border and engaged Irish border guards, Gardai (lightly armed) and Army units. When word reached the Garda and Army Chiefs, they decided to accelerate their plans which were to have commenced in a few days. The Irish Garda and Army units in the north were instructed not to fight the British by their high commands no matter what and only the Irish Garda units that had been invited to assist in curbing violence could cross the border. The Irish units put up some resistance as they did not want to appear to give in and then withdrew or gave themselves up. The Royal Marines then quickly moved onto to Donegal and Cavan taking those towns without much loss for either side. In Dublin, British Puma and Lynx helicopters landed troops on the outskirts and in some key sections of town. At the same time the Garda and Army units in Dublin were instructed that now was the moment of the Garda-Army Plan and despite the Royal Marine and Army units engaged in operations in and around Dublin, that the plan was a-go. The Tanaiste and his cabinet were in Parliament/Oireachtas while all this was happening and when the Garda and Army personnel entered Oireachtas he was sure it was for their protection. He was quite surprised when the guns were levelled at some of the government employees and one of the TDs instead and when a Garda commander ordered all those whom the soldiers were aiming at to give themselves up to his authority and announced that the Gardai and Army were arresting those in the government involved with the PIRA and INLA .
The Royal Marine commander in Dublin, hearing of what appeared to be a coup attempt ordered his soldiers to cease-fire and to hold their positions. The British Army commander followed suit soon after.
By the end of the day the Garda Commissioner and Army Chief had presented their evidence to the government. Also by the end of the day, just about all the PIRA and INLA men implicated in the two Garda investigations had been seized in Garda-Army raids that had started simultaneously across Ireland and continued throughout the day. The Tanaiste then revealed all the evidence presented by the Garda in his speech, that implicated all the British suspects and others in Bloody July and directly implicated the PIRA and INLA in the assassination of the nation’s leaders. The Irish Times and all Irish television channels and newspapers ran the speech in special evening editions and live shows and in the next day’s editions. Many Irish citizens were shocked and some could not believe it. But a few started to protest the PIRA and INLA and began stoning known supporters. Soon these few protestors were joined by many more and in several cities all over the Republic known and suspected PIRA and INLA men were being mobbed and arrested. The British Army and Marines were instructed to keep a low profile in Dublin, Donegal, Cavan, Cork, Watergall and the other areas where their soldiers were present. In Donegal and Cavan, as they were in complete control they imposed a curfew to keep order (and keep the PIRA-INLA men in town).

October 25th, 1974- Order was restored to many cities and the British began immediately withdrawing their soldiers. The military was kept on high alert however, and the RN and Royal Marines were stationed 10 miles offshore from Dublin. In Dublin the government (now composed of those not involved in Bloody July) stated that a by-election for the TD arrested was to be held in 2 months. The Irish Govt. also stated it would cooperate fully with the British to capture the PIRA and INLA men implicated and would extradite those not formerly connected to the government (TDs and employees) after they had been tried in Eire. Those connected to the government would be tried and sentenced in Eire. The Irish government would also set up a Bloody July Fund for the families of those who died. The British government for its part apologised publicly for the invasion and for some of its more extreme operations and promised to pay compensation to the families of those Irish citizens that died in the recent military actions. It also amended its seventh demand : (7) To show that it is committed to a peaceful resolution of the Northern Irish dispute the Irish govt. clarify articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution which basically lay claim to Northern Ireland to recognise Northern Ireland as being British until the majority of the people of Northern Ireland wish to join the Republic of Ireland. The British also out forth the idea that this demand would be removed from the list of demands and added into a peace package, where the British restore self-government for Northern Ireland in return for the Irish clarifying their constitution (among other concessions by both sides). The Irish government said it would try to get "clarification" of those two articles by referendum.

December 2nd, 1974- The December elections had one of the highest turnout in Irish history. Childers had died in November and election were to be held within 2 months under the Constitution. The Fianna Fail and Fine Gael did very well and Sinn Fein's share of the vote increased somewhat due some voters detesting British over-reaction during the crisis though Sinn Fein's actual share was not as high as predicted by the some party officials due to some voters shying away from the party which to them was indirectly associated with the murderers of Cosgrave. It was the Fianna Fail’s Cearbhall O Dalaigh who was elected as the new Uachtaran. O Dalaigh appointed the Tanaiste as the new Taoiseach and the Taoiseach created a coalition government like what Cosgrave did, but this time it consisted not only of The Fine Gael and Parti Lucht Oibre (Labour) but also the Fianna Fail. The new Irish government expressed an interest in closer cooperation with Britain, the Commonwealth and with Europe. Among its first acts was to ban any support for the PIRA and INLA and those organisations themselves were outlawed. The new government also campaigned for the amendment articles 2 and 3 of the constitution to clearly define Northern Ireland as being ruled by the British until the majority of the people in the province decide otherwise, yet being a integral with the “nation” of Eire and that the citizens of Northern Ireland were brother citizens. The Irish government championed the change as part of a peace deal and at the same time as the inclusion in the constitution of an acknowledgement of a provision of the old 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty. The government said it was only fair that they recognise the fact that Northern Ireland has a right to self-determination. With Fianna Fail's support in the government and Sinn Fein's opposition to the proposed change, the Irish electorate, by a slim margin, voted through the changes in the constitution in a referendum. The British government welcomed this change and stated it would revive autonomy for Northern Ireland and that the Irish govt. would have some say in Northern Ireland all in a revised Sunningdale Agreement and Council of Ireland. In Brussels, all members of the EC welcomed the improvement in relations between Britain and Ireland (during the crisis there was talk in the EC of suspending the membership of Britain and Ireland until the crisis was resolved). Within 2 years of the new government’s administration, the Republic of Ireland had the EC and Commonwealth amongst its main trading partners. Ireland was a member of the EC, but with the Commonwealth Ireland settled for very close trade ties, which basically allowed Ireland to trade freely or preferentially with most Commonwealth members. Ireland also usually carried the same line as the Commonwealth when it came to human rights and democracy.

March 1975- The delayed General Election is finally held in Britain with Wilson winning a majority of 35 seats in Parliament. Many see this as the British electorate's recognition of what they saw as Wilson's steady performance under considerable pressure. The number of terror attacks in the year were quite reduced from normal levels and were localised to Northern Ireland. There were virtually none, save one incident, in Britain itself, though the activities of the PLO put airport security high on the agenda.
In the aftermath of the crushing electoral defeat, the 1922 Committee turned on Conservative leader Edward Heath. Indeed, Margaret Thatcher too had become disillusioned and was urged by Keith Joseph to challenge for the leadership. On May 8th 1975, Margaret Thatcher became Conservative leader. Within a year, Harold Wilson had also retired but the new Prime Minister, James Callaghan, faced a growing economic crisis started by the oil price rises from the Yom Kippur War and the cost of the Irish military action in 1974. Savage cuts in public spending and an attempt to impose a harsh incomes policy led to renewed industrial confrontation.
In Ireland, the membership of the Official IRA remained steady and even rose throughout the year as some Irishmen perceived Britain to be enforcing its will still on Eire. Some joined up because they lost loved ones in the British military action, others joined up just because of the British military action and still others joined up because they disliked the change in the constitution. Not all of the new recruits would stay, some would leave for various reasons. Since the 60s the Official IRA was coming to the conclusion that that Irish unification could be best achieved through peaceful means, campaigning for civil rights and against anti-catholic discrimination in the North, so many recruits stayed since they wouldn't really be needing to kill, bomb and maim. Whilst new recruits came in, some old veterans decided to leave, mainly because of the PIRA's and INLA's involvement in Cosgrave's murder. There were only a few who left however as most knew that the IRA and PIRA were two totally different things.
While the IRA had a somewhat increased membership (itself a balance of those coming in and those leaving), the PIRA and INLA faced massive reorganisation. First those factions which had never supported the murder of Irish government figures, finally struck out on their own (many went over to the now less violent IRA) and formed a new group called the Ulster Liberation Army (ULA), deciding that PIRA and INLA were both names too tainted to use. The now reduced PIRA and INLA merged later in the year into a larger PIRA (a small number split off to form a group called the Real IRA (RIRA) though). Membership for the remnant PIRA remained rather stagnant as many were disgusted by the murders of Irish government figures.
Due to the reorganisation and British and Irish government cooperation to cut back terror operations (both republican/nationalist and unionist/loyalist), the number of terror attacks were at an all time low in Northern Ireland and the number of convicted unionist and republican terrorist for the year that were put behind bars was at all time high.
The new ULA became more aligned with the Official IRA and its terror activities were more restricted (it even observed a cease-fire from 1980 and only occasionally afterwards was the cease-fire broken).

1976 onwards- The PIRA regained its momentum by 1976 and was back in business, busy planting bombs and having soldiers, policemen and ordinary citizens stop their bullets. Its activities were restricted by increased security by Britain and Ireland, however as time went on the PIRA found ways around some of the improved security measures.
The new Northern Irish government would continue to function, but would face periodic suspensions, an increased military presence and border closings in 1977, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1994 and 1999 due to a complete collapse in cooperation between the various parties in Northern Ireland during those times. When direct rule was periodically implemented, this of course was viewed with dismay in Dublin and in 1983 and 1984 the relations between Dublin and London were at their lowest at any time since the 1974 crisis (though it never reached anywhere near that low a level). Afterwards relations became quite normalised.
By 1985 many in Northern Ireland had a better outlook for the future (no longer did it seem like an endless cycle of violence and stagnation (but it did not seem to be a peaceful paradise either)) and some (just some) people who left in the 70s due to the troubles actually returned. Noting that the people in general were now less inclined on either side to support violent activity and that the majority now actively opposed it, in 1992 many loyalist and republican groups instituted a voluntary cease-fire (brokered with the aid of the ULA and Official IRA) which was to last (with only sporadic violations) into the present.