Mary Kenny

Humiliating the IRA was a fatal mistake

At the height of the Troubles, Westminster’s hardline attitude and brutal interrogations were unlawful and self-defeating, according to Ian Cobain

Flames leap from Westminster Hall after an IRA bomb explodes in June 1974. Credit: Getty Images

  • Anatomy of a Killing: Life and Death on a Divided Island

    Ian Cobain

    Granta, pp. 269, £18

  • Burning Heresies: A Memoir of a Life in Conflict

    Kevin Myers

    Merrion Press, pp. 304, £18

Already a subscriber? Log in

This article is for subscribers only

Get a free bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label when you subscribe to The Spectator for just £12 in our Black Friday sale

  • Free bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky, worth £30
  • Unlimited access to our website and app
  • Enjoy Spectator newsletters and podcasts
  • Explore our online archive, going back to 1828

Read next

Trending

Yuan Yi Zhu

The ICC has destroyed its own credibility 

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity (a third warrant was issued against a Hamas commander, believed to be dead). In so doing, the ICC has undermined – perhaps fatally – its own credibility,

More on northern ireland

Also by Mary Kenny

Latest

Comments

Black Friday sale: Get 10 weeks for just $1

Unlimited access to the The Spectator, online and via the app

Already a subscriber? Log in