Northern Ireland: The Orange State

A political history of Northern Ireland is reprinted here. Michael Farrell charts the story of Northern Ireland from its violent birth to its violent present. He describes the bloody pogroms with which the Unionist leaders, armed and financed by Britain, established their state. He records the fruitless efforts of the Catholics in and out of parliament, to redress their grievances. He shows how, in every decade, they have been driven to armed revolt. And he describes the few great moments of working-class solidarity and the way Unionist leaders crushed the working-class movement with sectarian politics. Farrell argues that this crisis can only be resolved by British withdrawal and an end to partition.