Analysis: While the violent incursion in 1986 was an isolated incident, it's a reminder that Ireland's security can't be taken for granted
By Séan Ó Duibhir, University of Galway
‘Ireland must stop free-riding on security gifted by others’. This was the stark warning from Vice Admiral Dr. Mark Mellett, former Chief of Staff of Óglaigh na hÉireann who was speaking at the recent West Cork History Festival.
Mellett referenced the 2021 cyberattack on the HSE, the Russian Navy’s planned exercises in Irish waters in 2022, and the ongoing impact of war in Ukraine. He argued the Irish State must invest more in our defence, and ensure ‘malign’ actors cannot use our jurisdiction to ‘threaten our neighbours’.
Some would undoubtedly contest Mellett’s views. Indeed, there is a perception that Ireland’s geography and (present) geopolitical approach renders us safe from attack, but this is not perhaps wholly accurate. For aside from the emergence of modern hybrid warfare and cyber threats (such as the HSE hack), the Irish State has already experienced a violent incursion, of sorts, into its territory.
1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement
In November 1985, Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald, and British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement, which provided Irish Governments with a 'consultative’ role in Northern Irish affairs. FitzGerald’s objectives during negotiations were threefold. He sought to decrease the alienation of nationalists from the Northern Irish state, stabilise the moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party, and undercut support for Provisional Sinn Féin, the growth of which he feared could embolden the Provisional IRA to heighten their violent campaign.
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From RTÉ Archives, Jim Dougal reports for RTÉ News in 1985 on the progress of the Anglo-Irish Agreement
In each of these respects, FitzGerald’s gamble was successful. But what proved less welcome was the extent to which the accord raised the ire of the Unionist community, whose own political leaders claimed were left in the dark by British negotiators.
Resignations from the Westminster parliament in protest, monster anti-agreement meetings in Belfast and attempts to paralyse the economy were accompanied by more sinister activities such as the burning of an effigy of Thatcher, attacks on members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and threats to Irish civil servants travelling to the North.
The Clontibret invasion in 1986
Some incensed Loyalists, including future Northern Irish First Minister, Peter Robinson, adopted another approach: they decided to occupy part of the Irish Republic. In the early hours of August 7th 1986, the citizens of Clontibret in Co Monaghan were awoken by the sounds of hundreds of Northern Loyalists – some wearing paramilitary attire and brandishing cudgels – rampaging through the small village.
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From RTÉ Archives, Michael Fisher reports on the aftermath of the invasion of Clontibret, Co Monaghan by a Loyalist mob in 1986
Having crossed into the Republic en masse, the men blocked the primary Dublin-Derry road, defaced buildings (including a Protestant school), attacked a local Garda station and seriously assaulted two unarmed gardaí, both of whom subsequently required treatment in hospital. One occupant of a house near the Garda station described being ‘terrified’, as she and her children ‘were afraid for our lives’. The eventual arrival of armed Special Branch detectives, one of whom fired shots into the air above the angry ‘invaders’, resulted in the Loyalists’ hasty retreat back across the Border.
Accounts vary as to numbers involved. The Garda estimated less than 200 Loyalists, but a senior member of the Democratic Unionist Party claimed it was more than 1,000, as "roads had to be taken, the Border checkpoint had to be taken, and the village itself was taken. We had complete control of the village for upwards of half an hour."
There was only one arrest made, that of Robinson himself. Initially charged under the Offences Against the State Act, he was fortunate to be convicted on the relatively minor charge of 'unlawful assembly' and was fined £17,500. After paying this fine, he earned the unedifying sobriquet of ‘Peter the Punt’ within hardline Loyalist circles.
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From RTÉ Archives, Alan McCullough, Micheal Ronayne and Michael Fisher report on the violence which accompanied the appearance of Peter Robinson in Dundalk charged with unlawful assembly and assault at Clontibret
Ultimately, this violent incursion was an isolated incident, involving disgruntled citizens from another jurisdiction, and thankfully did not place the overall security of the Republic in jeopardy. But to believe the Irish State could never face a serious militarised threat to its institutions is a presumption based on privileged hubris. Irrespective of one’s views on neutrality with regards to external conflicts, Irish governments cannot remain neutral on the question of this state’s future security.
Indeed, the circumstances of the Clontibret invasion also hint at an often overlooked irony, one pertaining to current debates surrounding the triple lock mechanism applying to Irish Army deployments outside the state.
The peace process means a return to widespread inter-communal violence in Northern Ireland is almost impossible to contemplate, but should a Doomsday scenario ever necessitate calls – perhaps from a friendly British government – for Southern military assistance, the triple lock may require a United Nations mandate be issued before the Irish State could intervene.
Given the reality that such mandates are subject to veto by any permanent member of the Security Council it does pose a serious question. Should we really allow Russia, China or any other state veto over how we might deploy our own military on part of this very island?
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Dr Séan Ó Duibhir is a part-time lecturer in the Department of History and the Centre for Adult Learning and Professional Development at University of Galway.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
