THE IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMYʼS «GREEN BOOK»: POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC GOALS OF THE ORGANIZATION
Authors: Мар'яна Шекета  
Published: October 2021

Problem setting. National liberation movements have always occupied an important place in international relations and domestic politics. As a rule, they are a reaction to legal, political, economic or cultural injustice on the part of the state in which they originate. Representatives of the movement are trying hard to defend their rights to their own identity, and sometimes to independence and self-determination. The «Green Book» of the Irish Republican Party is the conditional name of the official protocols of the Irish Republican Army, which at some point in time became open to the public. These documents allow us to better understand the political and economic goals of the IRA, the structure of the organization, tactics, as well as the morale and ideology of volunteers. The publication of these sources is a very important factor for their further study in order to improve measures to prevent separatist terrorism and guerrilla warfare, which in the XXI century are gaining new meanings and opportunities for implementation.
Recent research and publications analysis. Despite the great interest in the study of national liberation or separatist movements and their ideological basis, there is still no unambiguous explanation of the conditions for the emergence of separatism and the significant spread in society of ideas of self-determination of a particular ethnic group. It is customary to take into account a rather superficial understanding of the main purpose and reasons for the struggle of individual liberation movements, which sometimes turn into armed formations such as the IRA. As a result, researchers ignore the program documents and statutes of various separatist organizations, which allow us to better analyze the basic principles and purpose of their activities.
Paper objective. The purpose of the article ‒ is to consider the content of IRA program documents, which are conventionally called the «Green Book», the features of ideological principles and practical methods of functioning of the republican army.
Paper main body. The origins of separatism in Ireland date back to the 12th century under the leadership of Art Og McMorrow Caven, who as King of Leinster (Eastern Ireland) waged a very successful guerrilla war. the culmination of nationalism was the guerrilla war in 1916, when the social movement of the Irish people against Britain reached incredible proportions. It was during this period that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) intensified its activities, transforming local nationalism into a politically motivated struggle against the clear features of separatism and later terrorism under the auspices of the IRA. The British Crown tried for a long time to stop the organization, but it failed to do so due to the strong system and tactics of the IRA guerrilla struggle.
The Green book consisted of three main parts, which together constituted a separate collection of documents that had been hidden from the public for decades and only after the official cessation of the IRA's publication were published its basic tenets. the arrest of the Chief of the General Staff of the Provisional IRA, Seamus Twomi. Many researchers of the history of the Irish Republican Army believe that there are other parts of this collection, but at the moment there is no information about them.
Upon joining the organization, the future recruit took an oath of allegiance to the IRA's top management, promising total commitment to the organization's ideas and understanding that a volunteer could be imprisoned and tortured at any time. In addition, the recruit must be clearly aware of his or her own political motives and articulate them clearly when joining the IRA. The republican movement did not support any political and economic blocs in either the West or the East, that is, against military organizations such as NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
The IRA declares that it is in the interests of other oppressed nations of Europe, as well as neutral non-aligned peoples of the Third World. and labor resources, the destruction of original culture and language, and, most importantly, the loss of independence in deciding their own destiny. Republican ideology, in fact, created the ideal soldier who is ready to fight for their freedom and the state until death. At the moment when the recruit was imprisoned, it remained important for him to remain calm, steadfast and in no case to release secret information, because it would threaten not only the detainee, but also the activities of the entire organization of the Republican Army.
All these guidelines, described in the Green book, are important for understanding the political and ideological goals of the Republican insurgents. It is quite clear that an IRA volunteer could be a person with clear convictions, ready to endure torture and psychological pressure and in no way betray his brothers and the «high idea» of the Irish state, which does not depend on anyone.
Conclusions of the research. The functioning of the IRA is impossible without its ideological justification and the behavior of the insurgents in an armed uprising. Such a statutory document for the IRA was the «Green Book», which is extremely important in understanding the purpose and features of the organization of the republican-insurgent movement. Thanks to access to such program documents, we can analyze the content, reasons, features of not only the organization as a whole, but also the moral aspect and psychology of a person joining the ranks of such an organization or national liberation movement. Considering the content of the «Green Book», the explanation of the political and economic component and the psychological state of IRA volunteers becomes quite clear.
The «Green Book» is valuable primarily because it explains the morale of an IRA member, tells about his willingness to give his life at any time for the highest value of the ideas of the republican movement, also explains the way of life of such a person in society and the importance of the mystery of the organization. It should be noted that any national liberation movement, except for the outer shell of militancy, has a developed structure, as well as, above all, the motivation and ideological beliefs of volunteers, which always becomes the most powerful driving force of any liberation movement. Studying and understanding such documents helps us to better understand the nature of such uprisings, the emergence of separatism within a particular ethnic group and allows us to use this knowledge to prevent their formation by developing holistic concepts of interethnic dialogue within a single state, but also apply this experience globally.