The intention of this section is to highlight information and source materials which describe the impact of the Northern Ireland conflict on the Republic of Ireland.

This section provides a gateway to relevant information on the CAIN website. There was much information on CAIN related to the impact of the conflict on the Republic but this information is contained within the wider topic of the Northern Ireland conflict. So, for example, a number of CAIN databases contain relevant material but initially there was no mechanism to retrieve the items related to the Republic. Work was carried out to supplement the databases and programmes to allow the information to be extracted.

The intention is that this section will also act as a guide to relevant information contained at other websites.

It is also hoped to provide information on physical (non-digital) collections which contain information that would be useful to anyone researching the impact of the conflict on the Republic.

The conflict in, and about, Northern Ireland was to have a major impact on the Republic of Ireland. This impact took many forms:

• Deaths - killings of people in, or from, the Republic.
• Violence - other violent incidents (bombings and shootings):
  • Loyalist attacks,
  • Republican violence,
• Politics - impact on Irish political life and the political relationships with Northern Ireland, Britain, and other jurisdictions.
• Security Policy and Justice System of the Republic:
  • Emergency Law
  • The Arms Trial
  • New Laws for National Emergency
  • Changes to Irish Army and Garda
• The Media:
  • Reporting the Northern Ireland conflict,
  • Section 31 Directive,
• Irish Society:
  • Reaction to outbreak of violence in north,
  • Refugees from the north,
  • Reaction to spread of violence related to the north
  • Reaction to Bloody Sunday,
  • Impact on the Irish Protestant community.
• Increased debate on unification

The work to prepare this section was carried out following funding received from the Reconciliation Fund operated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Dublin.

CAIN is grateful to the DFAT for the support it has received.