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Good Friday: The Death of Irish Republicanism
Literary Nonfiction. History. Politics. Irish Studies. Foreword by Ed Maloney. GOOD FRIDAY is a compilation of articles written by Anthony McIntyre, one of the most prominent Republican voices in Northern Ireland. It is a contemporaneous commentary on the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement written by the journalist and former political prisoner before the spin masters could have their version of history received as the established wisdom. GOOD FRIDAY challenges the standard Republican narrative and is a much needed historical document for anyone wanting to understand the Irish peace process. It is an indispensable companion book that completes any introduction to Irish republicanism. "As a historian, former member of the IRA and a onetime party activist with extensive contacts...few have been better placed than McIntyre to examine and evaluate the transformation of a political movement from armed insurrectionists to tame reformists.... There is...irreverence in McIntyre's writing that places some of his best pieces in the rascally company of other Irish enragés such as Swift, Shaw and Behan..."—Tommy McKearney, journalist, organiser, former member of the IRA. "Highly intelligent, honest and original. McIntyre's book should be read by anyone with an interest in modern Irish republicanism"—Richard English, author of Armed The History of the IRA .
336 pages, Paperback
First published August 8, 2008
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About the author
Anthony McIntyre
5 books3 followersFormer IRA volunteer and ex-prisoner, spent 18 years in Long Kesh, 4 years on the blanket and no-wash/no work protests which led to the hunger strikes of the 80s. Completed Phd at Queens upon release from prison. Left the Republican Movement at the endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement, and went on to become a journalist. Co-founder of The Blanket, an online magazine that critically analyzed the Irish peace process.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 14, 2016
This is a must read for anyone who thinks they know about the Good Friday accords, and the peace they brought to the north of Ireland. This is particularly so for those Irish Americans who worship at the altar of Gerry Adams, and think he brought ever-lasting peace to this incredibly troubled region. While the accords may have stooped the intense fighting that plagued contemporary Ireland for thirty years, they did not bring Irish unification, civil rights, or equality to the Catholic populace. The divide between loyalists and republicans is a deep as ever, and McIntyre's work helps us to understand why that is.
November 5, 2018
An interesting book about The Troubles and the Good Friday agreement, written by a member of the IRA who spent 14 years in prison. In summary, the members of the IRA were misled and let down by their leaders, and the Good Friday agreement was more like a total surrender by the IRA than a mutually beneficial agreement - Unionists got everything they wanted, Republicans got nothing they wanted.
The book is a collection of previously-published articles organized by topic, and so there is a lot of repetition in each section. Unless you have an interest in every last detail, you can read the first one or two articles in each section and then skip to the next section. It would have been better to write all-new essays and have a shorter book, rather than having 5 articles on each topic that largely say the same thing.
The book is a collection of previously-published articles organized by topic, and so there is a lot of repetition in each section. Unless you have an interest in every last detail, you can read the first one or two articles in each section and then skip to the next section. It would have been better to write all-new essays and have a shorter book, rather than having 5 articles on each topic that largely say the same thing.
June 24, 2009
I'm about half way through this book and it has totally floored me. Anthony was an author on the highly politcal Blanket website and which i read constantly. Anthony was a member of the IRA, a blanketman himself and republican acitivist who served many years for his beliefs in the H Block.
The book so far is a collection of his articles for the Guardian, The Blanket and another website called Forum. It's a scathing, highly critical look at the shift in the reublican movement from a United Ireland to administering British Rule under partition.
I would say that the book reads alot easier with an understanding of the republican movement since 1969 but that's not to say it cannot be read and understood by anyone.
It was hard to find a book that is critical of the peace process as anyone who wants to criticise it is ostricized from the community and villified by the current Sinn Fein Administration. Any books i have read on this subject so far sound way too much like Sinn Fein propaganda and always left me wondering how this could happen in my own country.
A definite recommendation
The book so far is a collection of his articles for the Guardian, The Blanket and another website called Forum. It's a scathing, highly critical look at the shift in the reublican movement from a United Ireland to administering British Rule under partition.
I would say that the book reads alot easier with an understanding of the republican movement since 1969 but that's not to say it cannot be read and understood by anyone.
It was hard to find a book that is critical of the peace process as anyone who wants to criticise it is ostricized from the community and villified by the current Sinn Fein Administration. Any books i have read on this subject so far sound way too much like Sinn Fein propaganda and always left me wondering how this could happen in my own country.
A definite recommendation
October 1, 2025
An excellent, well written book. It may be somewhat out of date but the points it makes are still valid, and many of Mackers predictions have come to pass. It’s a serious topic but written in an accessible style. Recommended for anyone interested in what the Good Friday Agreement really is. It was capitulation by the IRA, and doesn’t solve any of the real problems.
When a 26 county Republic of Ireland comes about, which it will, it will be in spite of the GFA, not because of it. It will most likely be because the British establishment loses interest in partition. To a large extent partition was never about colonialism, it was about military strategy. The Six Counties was exceptionally important in WW2. There were US spy stations there, thousands of US troops and Derry in particular was a vital North Atlantic port. The west didn’t want Ireland to be a possible base for invasion of Europe, cutting it off from Atlantic supply routes. That has all become much less relevant, and successive Irish governments have been quite content to toe the line on US policy anyway.
When a 26 county Republic of Ireland comes about, which it will, it will be in spite of the GFA, not because of it. It will most likely be because the British establishment loses interest in partition. To a large extent partition was never about colonialism, it was about military strategy. The Six Counties was exceptionally important in WW2. There were US spy stations there, thousands of US troops and Derry in particular was a vital North Atlantic port. The west didn’t want Ireland to be a possible base for invasion of Europe, cutting it off from Atlantic supply routes. That has all become much less relevant, and successive Irish governments have been quite content to toe the line on US policy anyway.
February 11, 2022
I largely agree with the guy, but shoot, what a self-important sad sack.
August 10, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews