Summary – This talk will cover a traumatic period in Irish history as violence erupted first in the urban centres of Northern Ireland before spreading to the border. The initial outbreak of violence saw the Irish government adopt a confused and haphazard security policy.

Irish soldiers patrolling the border, around 1970

As the conflict evolved, however, the state developed a more nuanced strategy: clamping down hard on republicans domestically but avoiding overt association with British security forces. This talk explores the evolution of this strategy.

Speaker – Patrick Mulroe is author of ‘Bombs, bullets and the border: Irish security policy 1969-1978′ (Irish Academic Press). He holds a PhD from the University of Ulster.