Dublin angered at decision to deploy Paras after IRA ceasefire

By Kevin Mullan
Published 28th Dec 2021, 10:35 BST
Updated 28th Dec 2021, 11:53 BST
Dublin was perplexed at decision to deploy Parachute Regiment, State Papers show.Dublin was perplexed at decision to deploy Parachute Regiment, State Papers show.
Dublin was perplexed at decision to deploy Parachute Regiment, State Papers show.
Senior Irish officials were scathing of the decision to deploy the Parachute Regiment in the north in the aftermath of the first IRA ceasefire in August 1994, newly-released papers have shown.

Declassified documents show that Dublin was frustrated that the response from London to the IRA ceasefire had been slow and 'grudging'.

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But the decision to send the regiment responsible for the Bloody Sunday massacre to the north prompted an angry message: "The deployment into West Belfast of an entire battalion of what are effectively front-line assault troops with a particular and officially endorsed reputation for aggression in the circumstances of the ceasefire would be extremely difficult for us to understand."

Related topics:IRALondon

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