Republicanism, Crime and Paramilitary Policing, 1916-1945

Dr. Brian Hanley, Assistant Professor in Twentieth Century History at Trinity College, Dublin will hold a talk, “Republicanism, Crime and Paramilitary Policing, 1916-1945”, in Dundalk Library at 3pm on Friday 1st September as part of the 2023 Decade of Centenaries programme.

Drawing on his recently published book ‘Republicanism, Crime and Paramilitary Policing, 1916-2020’ which examined the relationship between Irish republicanism, policing and crime from 1916 to the present day  Dr Hanley concentrates on the early part of his work. He describes republican attempts to deal with crime during the War of Independence, the problems caused by the Civil War split and how the organization grappled with accusations of criminality throughout much of the twentieth century. This book contains much new information on the IRA’s role in policing crime during the War of Independence. It looks at the way in which accusations of involvement in crime were weaponized during the Civil War and the IRA’s attitude to crime and criminals thereafter.