The Greatest Weight? Paramilitaries, Deterrent Violence and Feud in Ulster's Borderlands since 1920

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This project examines the evolution of the use of violence by paramilitaries in the border region of Ulster since 1920. It will offer an in-depth analysis on continuities, legacies and divergences between generations and on the prospect of renewed conflict. The project addresses two broad themes: (i) Deterrent Violence and Inter-generational learning: Did deterrent violence work? How did one generation of paramilitaries influence subsequent generations in terms of the selection of representative victims? Did discrimination in the use of violence significantly differ across generations and/or geographical areas?(ii) Opportunistic score-settling or feud in the selection of victims: Is there significant evidence that social or economic malice influenced / influences paramilitary violence? This project will investigate whether templates of 'successful' deterrent violence were handed down to (be re-employed by) successive generations. Within the scholarship of Northern Ireland's 'Troubles', urban violence, such as the conflict in Belfast or L/Derry, has attracted disproportionate scholarly attention. Whereas populations in urban areas often move, patterns of land ownership and residency in rural areas of Ulster are more constant. There is significant potential to improve our understanding of the role of memory, the impact of institutional, social networks and family ties during successive bouts of conflict. By drawing upon archival records and interview material this project will analyse 'network-based escalation', how social dynamics - patterns of land ownership or economic activity, institutional memberships and informal networks (conflicts therein), urbanisation - affected mobilisation and demobilisation, escalation and de-escalation of paramilitary violence in Ulster's borderlands.This project will also gauge whether there is significant evidence that petty grudges were grafted onto a wider campaign of political violence, essentially an opportunistic recruitment of a cause and paramilitary organisations to score points in long-standing local feuds with neighbours. Particular attention will be paid to examining whether individual family history, class or profession were important factors in the selection of victims. This study will also determine whether membership of religious/social institutions - the Gaelic Athletic Association, masonic lodges - were critical to the selection of 'representative victims'. This close analysis will challenge scholarly assertions that paramilitary violence was generally 'indiscriminate'.Finally, this project will offer a contemporary analysis of whether the memories and justifications of violent inter-communal attacks in the past leaves open the prospect of another period of significant violence in the future. This research is particularly timely, coinciding with the anniversary of the centenary of the partition of Ireland, rising concerns over paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland and the importance of the UK-Irish border for Brexit. The project will draw on written / oral archives and interviews with individuals with a connection to violent paramilitary groups (members, relatives of members of paramilitary organisations, serving and former police officers/military personnel, victims of paramilitary violence and their families or friends). Extensive fieldwork will be undertaken, particularly in Ulster (on both sides of the border).Outputs will include two journal articles, including one article co-authored with the Research Assistant, a published manuscript with a university press, an academic-policymaker conference, public lectures (including in ministries/agencies, regional museums and libraries), a dedicated project blog media articles. Senior British and Irish officials who are working to break the cycle of inter-generational violence in Ulster have also indicated that they believe this project has considerable potential public policy impact.