British & Irish Army Standoff at Monaghan Border, Ireland 1971

A confrontation has taken place between Irish and British troops at Munnilly Bridge near Clones, County Monaghan.
Munilly Bridge not far from Clones was the location for a standoff between Irish Defence Forces and British Army soldiers earlier today. This small river bridge which had previously been blown up by British troops, was subsequently rebuilt by local people and renamed ‘Taylor’s Brooke’.
When a company of British soldiers arrived to plant explosives for a second time, a Garda squad car from Clones was driven onto the bride. The Gardaí informed the British troops that their explosives had been mistakenly placed on the Republic’s side.
The commander in charge told the Gardaí to leave, which they refused to do, and radioed for Army support. The company of Irish soldiers from Cootehill Barracks who arrived within a short space of time were deployed in the vicinity of the bridge and also on adjacent high ground,
They took up firing positions around the bridge.
Following a discussion between an officer from the Defence Forces and his British counterpart, the Monaghan County Surveyor was called for, and with the aid of a map showed the British troops that some of their charges were laid on land belonging to the Republic.
At this point the British officer admitted that that had made a mistake and agreed to withdraw. The explosives in question were removed by Irish soldiers and taken to their barracks at Cootehill.
Patrick Quigley from Clones who witnessed the standoff tells RTÉ News that one British soldier had second thoughts about leaving the gelignite behind. Some local men who jumped into the river foiled his attempt to remove it which he describes as,
A bit of a tussle…then he was allowed go back to the other side of the border.
An RTÉ News report was broadcast on 28 October 1971. The reporter is Donal Kelly.

[@ado75]

"A bit of a tussle" over the dynamite - brilliant!

[@liammacaodha4783]

Fcuking unreal. Can you imagine them grabbing a Brit sarg. The balls on these lads. Probably from the local 'brigade'.

[@drewwilliams6888]

i wonder how the English would feel, if their country was divided with an international border?

[@Dannydantimpat]

@ Drew Willams I suppose some “terrorists “ would fight for English reunification.😝

[@kevinjackson292]

The English wouldn't understand that question. I know because I live in England.

[@denisoleary5302]

It was Ireland that wanted a boarder in Great Britain. Funny how the Englidh get the blame for what the Brits did

[@Dannydantimpat]

@@denisoleary5302 The Irish wanted a “boarder” ?

[@kevinjackson292]

Co Monaghan is in Ireland not Britain. Any border in Ireland is Irish not British.

[@ossian11]

I don't remember hearing anything about this on the Irish media back in 1971. Very pro British then. Many thanks for uploading these excellent videos.

[@noelryan6341]

I'm surprised with your statement of ignorance. Then PM Taoiseach Jack Lynch made some daring comments about protecting the 'border' and Irish citizens in the North, but chickened out creating a huge 'crater' of credibility that fostered the rise of physical force militancy.

[@tuforu4]

You GENIUS I BET AND WELL TRAVELLED.

[@marty4268]

the free state media is still pro-british

[@user-qw3rq6xv3n]

@@noelryan6341 Lynch made no daring statements. His " the Irish Government can no longer stand by and see innocent people injured and perhaps worse." was controversial but not daring. Militant loyalists were already active before any Lynch statements.

[@thomasryan7702]

There should never be a border on the island of Ireland 🇮🇪

[@thomasmctaggart5964]

It’s two country’s. Should be border

[@thomasryan7702]

The north of Ireland is an artificial state

[@ulsterinfidel9897]

@@thomasryan7702 Keep telling yourself that, your fairy tale won't happen. You lot been saying 5-10 years since Partition and yet 100 years on it still hasn't happened and it never will

[@deanstuart8012]

Oh, I agree. One day you will recognise that your 100 year failed experiment with "independence" for what it was and we might agree to let you come home.

[@thomasryan7702]

@@ulsterinfidel9897 blah blah blah

[@paulritchie5868]

It’s like a monty python film..

[@williem1710]

Ah the rare oul’ times. The craic was mighty.

[@corrocot1]

*crack

[@patrickquigley5422]

Craic*

[@paulc3749]

come out ye black & tans

[@blenderocean]

I read this via wikipedia a few years ago.

[@sonnyirish3678]

This used to called "map reading error".

[@Dannydantimpat]

A British / Westminster imposed border in Ireland should never have been allowed . Reunification is around the corner .

[@cryingbroken8824]

I agree. And I'm a few gens away from there. My gran was brought away in the womb. To this day 4 gens removed, the family can't agree on whether each new babe born is a catholic or a proddy. My own mother settled it for me by having me baptized in hospital as a protestant. There was no argument once it was done. Even my grandmother didn't speak to her for nearly 4 months afterward! My one aunt, (there'd been a bit of a race to produce the first grandchild before my grandfather passed(he had Hodgkins at the time))..my cousin was born 2 weeks and 3 days after I was, my aunt had her Christened Catholic. Now THAT'S a deep division in a family! Crazy Cow kept my cousin until she was almost 7 years old, *THEN* put her up for adoption. Worse, cousin landed in the worst sort of adoptive home I can imagine any little girl being cursed with. Luckily she's strong in character and has fought back to being a relatively normal woman despite what she endured as a child, and better, is/was determined to be the parent she never got to experience. She has a lovely wee boy,now,..he's a handful, but she's a dandy mum, and a social worker to boot, and manages him with a great deal of love, tolerance, patience and panache! As we were raised virtually as twins(being only several weeks apart in age, her mother preferring to leave her mostly in our grandmother's care...and our gran living with my mother who had the spare room...😉💞

[@cryingbroken8824]

I *sure hope* so!re: reunification

[@LovesTheGash]

Reunification when borders now mean nothing, countries no longer have sovereignty and people no longer free

[@Dannydantimpat]

@@cryingbroken8824 As Karl Mark said , This statement was translated from the German original, "Die Religion ... ist das Opium des Volkes" and is often rendered as "religion…is the opiate of the masses." The full sentence from Marx translates (including italics) as: "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people."[5] A Catholic , Protestant boy or girl or indeed any other religion or none sound the same when they are laughing and happy as all children should be . We are divided so that others can rule .

[@catpainblackudder01]

You try taking my Country, and I will fight...FGAU

[@noelryan6341]

As a young person in the Irish Army Reserve (FCA) at that time, I was fully prepared and expectant of being 'Called Up' to the border crisis. However, Fianna Fail (FF) Taoiseach (PM) Jack Lynch having made some encouraging statement about not abandoning our brothers and sisters in 'The North' chickened out, climbed down and left us 'Volunteers' disillusioned. I firmly believe that had the Irish Army crossed over the border then, the World (not uk) would have had our backs and Ireland would have been 'United' once more.

[@ayadav77]

I admire your courage, Sir. It takes a brave man to admit one's total ignorance of geo-politics and history.

[@stuartparker6838]

Fuck off lol .the Ulster farmers could have beat the Irish army.

[@jackietreehorn5561]

I always wondered as a northerner if the un had have intervened instead of the Brits would there have been 30 years of conflict avoided and no reason for the nationalist people to take up arms and pointless lives lost....

[@jackietreehorn5561]

@@stuartparker6838 would done nothing, sure the dublin drugs cartels are better armed now than both current loyalist and republican groups combined...reason they don't have touts is cuz they found a common interest, all loyal to money and wave any flag if the price is right lol

[@ayadav77]

@@jackietreehorn5561 You don't have to wonder, really. We do know what happens when the UN intervenes. Massive corruption, sex trafficking, children as young as 12 forced- for access to the food meant for them. And when the butchers approach, those UN soldiers hide in their holes and let killings go unchecked.

[@domenicocamplisson8738]

The Irish army should have gone into Derry

[@micoolkidfilms3270]

They where going to but didn’t want their country to end up like Serbia in 1999

[@Kitiwake]

@@micoolkidfilms3270nah. . they should have, after bloody Sunday.

[@OscarOSullivan]

For that we would have needed a fully equipped military. Makes you wonder if Michael Collins lived long enough to see his stay behind army plan implemented what would have happened.

[@cabaroigcostablanca]

At 0:50 totally outrageous, telling someone you are going to blow them up,and inform them in advance they'll have a headache...least of their worries.

[@Ben501uk]

RTE always broadcast the truth and one journalists report from one side = the truth! GROW THE FUCK UP!

[@noelryan6341]

Yes, ARROGANCE PERSONIFIED!

[@Ben501uk]

@@noelryan6341 No part of Ireland is occupied by another. Northern Ireland was formed because the unionist population didn't want to suffer the same fait as the Protestant and Loyalist population in South when like my grandmothers family they were ethnically cleansed and had the history rewritten (and yes they saw it coming and were proved correct), in what became a sectarian state (anyone served in the British forces or RIC, or fought in WW1 or WW2 fighting Hitler was treated like a leper, the Protestant population declined from around 15% to just 2%). You appear to be happy with that. But even if North joined the South you would have to accommodate the political and cultural interests of 1.2 million people and THEIR VERSION OF HISTORY, your Republic would change FOREVER - or you would need to ethnically cleanse us from the North. Like many nationalists you appear to ignore reality, it's not a convenient thought process! Cake and Eat comes to mind!

[@afitzsimons]

@@Ben501uk The republic has always welcomed the ancestors of economic migrants and religious refugees.

[@Ben501uk]

@@afitzsimons Except Protestants which it effectively ethnically cleansed! including my grandparents.

[@3158David]

A bit of a tussle, love it.

[@denisoleary5302]

How many in the UK taking the Queens shilling? Old saying *Dont Bite The Hand That Feeds You*

[@fintonmainz7845]

More Brits living in Ireland than visa versa.

[@jackietreehorn5561]

Just noticed CR vaults u seem to have a lot of anti northern nationalist videos, as a northern nationalist I would think you would upload the truthfull historical narrative...just saying or maybe I'm being biased...

[@stuartparker6838]

As a northern Irish man also I would like to know what you mean by the truthful historical narrative '

[@seanolaocha940]

Does he upload a lot of anti-nationalist videos? I could be missing something but I never noticed this.

[@mra5975]

How can you be nationalistic and anti Irish, maybe those that call themselves that forget the genocide of the lowlands of Scotland which brought them to Ireland. I'm curious now so to be nationalistic does that mean you try to take someone else land for the people that took you from yours to be then allowed to finally go back to your own lands or are you completely un Celtic and are nationalistic to a foreign country but not yourselves you know what I mean. Genuine question here and I would like someone whose a nationalist to explain exactly how they think there nationalistic and if so do they consider themselves Celtic and Irish too because if they do that will need some explaining to me and I imagine the world. Very strange topic.

[@mra5975]

@@stuartparker6838 that doesn't sound like an Irish name but then again it seems anything can be identified with these days. The truth is that the British isles including Ireland use to be called Pretanic with Albion and Erin being the two large islands they spoke the same language as the Irish do, even the Celtic queen Boadicea spoke it. But for all there might the romans couldn't conquer all these isles especially Ireland. The authentic Pretanic people where very advanced building the first known paved roads in the world, first to where trousers first to make chain link armour and there priest took 20 years training and had great knowledge of earth and the heavens. There laws where very advanced and a set of laws dating back 2300years ago are still used today as the english adopted them into there legal system. But christianity a roman invention, successive foreign invaders roman flemish Anglo viking saxons jutes normans etc coupled with an apocalyptic climate event around 500ad meant that Pretanic was to never be again. Each successive foreign invaders brought their own hatred for the Celtic peoples because there legitimate existence undermines the legitimacy of there authority and so begins the brutal history until today. A german royal family was appointed the so called windsors and this had a dramatic effect because prior to this royals would associate a descent from king Arthur to be proof of there legitimacy but after the windsors a new saxon supremacy ideology was instigated and fearful of a true british union between Cornwall isle of man wales Scotland and Ireland a anti british campaign began to assure the retention of this german nobility which is why they have and do prefer foreigners. Now Ireland was introduced to other people who where the victims of genocide of the lowlands of Scotland and displaying perfect traits of Stockholm syndrome began taking land of other people like the land was taken from them for the ones that took it. Religion only makes it easier to identify those that are Irish and those that are clearly not so it's not all that important. Well I hope you appreciate the truthful account. P.S it might be worth mentioning that the romans stated about the Celtic people that if they ever stopped fighting each other they would be able to conquer the world.

[@stuartparker6838]

@@mra5975 will read it later .just glanced over it .yes parker is hybrid from English and French. My father's side of the family are originally hugenouts. My mother is from sligo and her maiden is Gallagher.

[@Danny-zi6xw]

"If the Gardai didn't move their car, they'd have a headache"

[@dave3gan]

History with Hilbert covers the possibility of the Irish Army invading the north

[@matthew1882]

Would not have gone well for Ireland thats for sure.

[@ulsterinfidel9897]

@@matthew1882 Most definitely especially when they wanted to be slaughtered, the RUC itself was more equipped and experienced than the Irish Army. Imagine an so called army being tore to shreds by a police force. The Irish army was under equipped and had only 2,300 out of 12,000 troops battle ready against a well equipped RUC with 12,500 officers with probably over half having military combat experience. Then you take account in 1971 the UDR had about 11,000 soldiers all trained and armed plus the 35,000-40,000 squaddies in Northern Ireland all in one of the most advanced, train and battle hardened armies in the world. As for Royal Irish Rangers reservists, SAS, MI5 and Special Branch numbers is unknown. The Irish army would've walked into a blood bath

[@OscarOSullivan]

@@ulsterinfidel9897The RUC were like the RIC in the war of independence lazy, complacent and out of practice with facing serious force against them. Then there is the matter of the experience gained from engaging in ONUC.

[@johnathanryan2117]

Thats some forehead Patrick has got.

[@Battismore-Blue]

its more like a fivehead

[@johnnielson7676]

Or the fivehead has got quite a Patrick on it

[@liamg1706]

Guessing your perfect in everyday if you can afford to comment on others appearances?

[@Battismore-Blue]

@@liamg1706 BELL

[@liamg1706]

@@Battismore-Blue what

[@corrocot1]

2:40 I hope the boys made good use of the dynamite.

[@KR-us9pj]

It should be noted that a long time ago the UK forever set in stone the right of all Irish to travel, live, work and vote in the UK. The UK has always refused to see people from the Republic as foreign - and always will. This is due to the special historical bonds that exist. No other country in the world has this arrangement with the UK. In some way we remain united.

[@fintonmainz7845]

Stuff it.

[@fintonmainz7845]

@@KR-us9pj There seems to be something wrong with you. By your warped logic someone from Switzerland is not a foreigner in Norway. You're not well.

[@ansionnachbeagrioga5260]

@@KR-us9pj That's lovely an' all but parliament can't redefine what the word "foreigner" means. Anyone native to Ireland is literally foreign to Britain, and vice versa, regardless of what the law says.

[@ansionnachbeagrioga5260]

@@KR-us9pj I'm well awarw of the arrangement. I've benefited from visiting family in England without needing a passport. You're missing my point. That legal arrangement doesn't change the literal meaning of "foreigner". From it's original etymology up to it's modern dictionary meaning, as well as it's common usage, "foreigner" means someone from another land or country.

[@ansionnachbeagrioga5260]

@@KR-us9pj That's a very good point. It doesn't feel right thinking of someone as a foreigner when they're family. I'm from the rural west of Ireland and even Dublin feels foreign to me. Yet I had an uncle, related by marriage, who was a cop in London, without an Irish bone in his body, but he was just seen as family and he was well loved. I also have a brother-in-law from Scotland. It's hard to think of someone as foreign when they're married into the clan so to speak.

[@utopia3230]

Good job

[@carolinebyrne4995]

why did booth sides join together and blow up the fecken bridge than build it up together again later this would have been a great laurel and hardy sones of the desert moment the humor in this alone is a uniting course

[@nigelraporam6917]

Put the English in their place

[@cycleSCUBA]

Yes, back to a civilized, modern, Democratic country (Northern Ireland/United Kingdom).

[@TheBenzer9]

I know what I'd have done..I'd have brought the west Brit gay Byrne up to see for himself the reality of what went on along the border and how it affected peoples lives..I'd have lifted the needle of his HMV which regularly played God Save the Queen

[@OscarOSullivan]

Say what you like about him but he did stick two fingers up at Catholic Ireland with the discussions held on the Late Late Show

[@Dabhach1]

Gotta love all these Brits in the comments who think their country is still a power on the world🤣

[@mr.afrikaans1747]

By every metric they are. What I find funny is all of the Irish people who talk like you do and bleeding little dong syndrome.

[@yusufturner1971]

But they have 2 aircraft carriers! 😆 🤣 😂

[@yusufturner1971]

The school curriculum became political decades ago and it seems a very conservative history is now taught in UK schools, if this is the case, then it is no wonder that Brexit happened and many Brits seem to have lost their bearings, especially with regard to their place in the worldwide power structure, this may change rapidly if they start a war with the Russians or the Chinese! 🤔🙄

[@Dabhach1]

@@yusufturner1971 Yes. I hear that next year they're going to get some aircraft for them😄

[@mr.afrikaans1747]

@@Dabhach1 Aircraft is a bit of a stretch. Just the one, I think!

[@peadarmacconnmhaigh4337]

If only the Republics army had moved to take back the six counties. The free world would have sided with them at that time I think. The Provisionals in the six counties would have helped too. It would be a different Ireland than today's Ireland. Much better I think. Thank you for this clip. Made me feel proud to be Irish. Especially the locals who fought with the British soldier.

[@paulcourtney1368]

But the Irish defence forces were backward cultchies,who never fired a gun in thar lives..ffs

[@johnsometimeswrong8742]

@@paulcourtney1368 Same culchies who held off a force of 3000 with about 150men at Jodotville. Paul your a tit...ffs.

[@itsme-sn5gi]

When the Falklands war broke out the United States sided with the United Kingdom instead of Argentina, it's unlikely America would take the Irish republic's side, because legally Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, no invasion would change the legal side, and most likely the British would come to take NI back after such an invasion instead of a vote to join Ireland!

[@siogbeagbideach]

@@paulcourtney1368 in sniper competitions with the US forces, SAS etc the Ranger wing has beat them in recent years. Further back, Irish army held off mercenaries in the Congo while outnumbered, watch the film Siege of Jadotville , it's good 👍 UN, Conor Cruise O"Brien don't come out looking too good, those Irish soldiers fought to the last bullet, no water or supplies left before they surrendered. A 'culchie' from my homeplace is missing since the 80s in Lebanon, his lookout partners body was found. RIP. Sorry but, cop on a bit and check yourself before you write drivel about those men who serve and have served in our army.

[@johnquinn4098]

We would have gotten slaughtered by the unionist and British

[@damarekonayaro5781]

Fair play to the Guards and defence forces. Occupation is over (Six Counties aside.)

[@mr.afrikaans1747]

800 hundred years and counting 😘 Jokes, jokes!

[@raftonpounder6696]

When will the Irish leave Britain? Or America, Australia, New Zealand etcetera. Are you going to chase the blacks out of Ireland? The Muslims? Chinese? Grow up.

[@paulritchie5868]

Look,we would love it if Ireland was reunited,we give £10 billion a year to those nutters in the north,so please,don’t think we Brits are against your country being one.

[@raftonpounder6696]

@@paulritchie5868 racist.

[@mr.afrikaans1747]

@@paulritchie5868 If anything there needs to be more partitions. If Norn Iron is anything to go by then they clearly work LOL

[@MikeyJMJ]

Stop burning bridges

[@theanglo-lithuanian1768]

More like blowing up bridges in this case...

[@stevethomas5849]

Hilarious 😂

[@noelryan6341]

Not 'hilarious' if the twisted, convoluted british 'border' ran down the middle of your house or farm. How funny would it be for you if some arbitrary stroke of a cartographer's pen split your life up in an insane 'partition'?

[@pietroboggio8353]

On that island there are two countries...they must respect each other and live in peace.

[@OscarOSullivan]

Northern Ireland is not a country

[@user-po9sg3ks4p]

Should have called dads army lol mean while the brits are still in the north lol

[@carolsaxton839]

Think about the millions of Irish who died in the potatoe famine,whilst the brits and Queen Victoria sat and did nothing! All in the name of empire......

[@concong4183]

Carol Saxton There was no famine. There was a failure of the potatoes, but there were plenty of grains and meat which were escorted under military guard to the ports to be sent to England. If we're honest, it was a genocide.

[@patricklamshear1806]

Most of the landlords were Irish, get your facts right.

[@loulou2817]

@@patricklamshear1806 How so Patrick? Have you ever heard on the Penal laws? Sadly, UK education excludes any deeds that show them in poor light & rewrites history so it's citizens believe that the empire was a benign influence & those pesky indigenous natives really were lucky to have the British take over their country (sarcasm intended).

[@vespasian266]

I think you'll find people at the time might of blamed ill fortune and the weather before they even dreamed up the notion of an evil empire. blaming the "Brits" is a modern notion projected on the past by morons who know nothing. the attitude of most people would of been akin to a frontiers mans attitude. if you worked hard you'd survive, if ill fortune turned up, that is down to gods providence.

[@concong4183]

@@vespasian266 Nah. They watched as troops escorted meat and grains to the ports to be shipped to England.

[@JDLeonard74]

It's sad, but I think the war of the roses will always be a scar on many places. In the early colonial history of N.C. we called it Queen Anne's War. Which went on to include pirate's like Blackbeard. And our civil war will always be a terrible scar, especially since it came with a sort of Pharos curse for the years of slavery. Thank you for showing me this C.R. I hope I didn't ignorantly poke around to much with my words. Because that's a grievous scar, and I try my best to respect that. We need our Constitution back here in the U.S. It's Not an easy hike, and it's been ugly so far. Sad😥 Jesus bless you if you accept. Good journey to you my friends either way.

[@robholloway6829]

I think you're confusing several different wars, there.

[@mob3144]

What are you talking about boy? Did you just wander in here with Dorothy?

[@22grena]

Irish win

[@theanglo-lithuanian1768]

And by win you mean "Haha the bombs were on our side so we got to defuse the bombs not you" ...I mean, if that's considered a victory then whatever makes you happy 🤣

[@Danheron2]

I love that for a brief moment in history Ireland almost invaded England until an Irish general was like “hey don’t do this unless you wanna lose the other counties” lol one of those crazy things that almost happened

[@marytansey1771]

How do you take that opinion from this piece. Clearly the British Army overstepped the mark and had to back down

[@Danheron2]

@@marytansey1771 I googled it and read up on the hole incident, the Irish government wanted to send soldiers across the border during battle of the bogside, it almost went through until a general pointed out that they 1000% shouldn’t do that lol

[@marytansey1771]

But that was in 1969 in Derry when Catholics were being burned out of their homes for their religious beliefs. This is in 1971 in a different part of the country.

[@pedclarkemobile]

I missed the England part, this took place on the island of Ireland, a bridge connecting two counties in the province of Ulster.

[@sorennilsson9742]

From my perspective, UK troops invaded Ireland and placed explosives on their territory. If I was from the GB I would be rather embarrassed. If France placed bombs at the entrence to the tunnel I guess the Boris government would do nothing?

[@Thomas-uf8si]

Got to love the irish in the comments stuck in the past and not able to handle basic facts .Not all irish tho

[@siogbeagbideach]

Ye classic comment of begin with what appears to be a compliment which then morphs into an insult before following up with another seeming compliment but in reality is just another cloaked insult. Well done, comhghairdeachas!

[@fintonmainz7845]

Which "basic facts"?

[@EdMcF1]

The Irish Army had a change of role, their main function is to prevent the unreconciled losers of the Civil War (and now, their heirs) from trying to re-fight the Civil War. Here at least, they had an external opponent.

[@Ben501uk]

They did fuck all grow up. Britain could have nuked the South and been done with you, we are as evil as your mythology is myth! Figure it out in your small brain!

[@EdMcF1]

@@Ben501uk Yes right, the USA would have said 'Never mind', dear me, what an astonishingly childish comment. Have you figured out yet which side the British government wants to prevail yet?

[@Ben501uk]

@@EdMcF1 The USA could care Jack Shit about Ireland. They only care about themselves. There are more Puerto Rican's in America than Irish. No part of Ireland is occupied by another. Northern Ireland was formed because the unionist population didn't want to suffer the same fait as the Protestant and Loyalist population in South when like my grandmothers family they were ethnically cleansed and had the history rewritten (and yes they saw it coming and were proved correct), in what became a sectarian state (anyone served in the British forces or RIC, or fought in WW1 or WW2 fighting Hitler was treated like a leper, the Protestant population declined from around 15% to just 2%). You appear to be happy with that. But even if North joined the South you would have to accommodate the political and cultural interests of 1.2 million people and THEIR VERSION OF HISTORY, your Republic would change FOREVER - or you would need to ethnically cleanse us from the North. Like many nationalists you appear to ignore reality, it's not a convenient thought process! Cake and Eat comes to mind!

[@kincaidwolf5184]

Excellent point. The IRA were actually a threat to the Republic, that could pull down the state at any time. Another 1916 style event would have forced the Government from power. These idiots in the comment section failed to realise thism

[@ad-kg5dp]

@@Ben501uk you are so full of shit it is insane man XD

[@Thomas-uf8si]

Only one winner here and it isn't the irish army

[@Ftanftangfnarrr]

So this was a resounding British victory?!

[@philip013]

Watch the video. The British backed down.

[@nicholasbarr1149]

some crazy remarks here by the southern irish if there army had attacked would have been beaten so easy by the british im sure at this time southern irish army no more than 12000 men no airforce no real navy , british army at this time 165000 ,regulars 800 tanks air force at least 600 combat aircraft jets would have been a walk over a picnic for the british army

[@conordarcy4663]

When ireland had less men and Britain was still an empire we got our independence don't be fooled by numbers

[@ahlads]

The thing is it would not have been a conventional war so numbers go out the window. How did Ireland get it's independence? It wasn't based on a numbers game that's for sure. Having said that it was never going to happen and any talk of it was merely to keep the British government guessing and on their toes.

[@nicholasbarr1149]

@@conordarcy4663 FANTASY THE BRITISH ARMY WOULD HAVE KICKED THE IRISH ARMY EASILY

[@judemorgan9362]

@@nicholasbarr1149 You say would have, yet from 1919-1921 a non official army in Ireland brought Britain to the negotiating table, winning her independence. Mind you Britain had the biggest empire in the world at the time. Kind of embarrassing for Britain tbh. So do not be fooled by numbers or firepower.

[@nicholasbarr1149]

@@conordarcy4663 fantasy

[@garystreet6756]

Only one winner there. The British Army. Eire wouldn’t last 5 mins

[@kitsilanomusician2669]

@Gary Street. Did you not watch the video? The British Army lost the exchange and had to retreat..

[@siogbeagbideach]

Éire. Ctr Alt plus the letter Éire is Irish for Ireland, eire means burden and while it's an Irish word, if you're talking about Ireland the country, Éire is the correct translation.

[@garystreet6756]

@@kitsilanomusician2669 Don’t be silly Southern Ireland does not even have a Airforce. It’s Airspace is protected by the RAF

[@jackdeegan3617]

@@garystreet6756 So was it the Mi6 that bombed the Brighton Hotel when Maggie Thatcher was there. Now that would make a lot of sense 😂😂😂. I thought that secret agents were supposed to protect the country from attacks, you seem to be suggesting that the mi6 helped with the attacks by the ira.

[@SE-hi3my]

@@garystreet6756 doesn’t need may be more correct. Because they have no enemies.

[@peterchessell28]

Irish army?wtf is that? do they have a tank ? 2 tanks....any planes? hahaha they would have been slaughtered if there is one thing those brits are good at it,s war.

[@conlaiarla]

Correct ...especially losing them .

[@judemorgan9362]

Might I introduce you to a historical event known as the Irish war or Independence ? The IRA at this time were just normal men with normal jobs and stolen rifles whom won Irelands Independence against the worlds largest empire...

[@noelryan6341]

Supremacist! Like previous commenters Nicholas Barr & Gary Street, clearly you've never heard of the siege of Jadotville in September 1961, where a contingent of 155 lightly-armed Irish UN Peacekeeping soldiers in the Congo over 5 days repelled attacks by a 3,000-man Katangese heavily-armed force, supported by a bomber plane. They were betrayed by Conor Cruise-O'Brien.

[@OscarOSullivan]

@@judemorgan9362And at said empire’s height

[@thomasmctaggart5964]

I would of blew it up with Garda on it. They had there chance to move off

[@3108dd]

Semi-literate nonsense

[@thomasmctaggart5964]

@@3108dd what a stupid answer

[@jackpirie7382]

@@3108dd Semi? I would say insane nonsense

[@concong4183]

I would have, too, if I found out their kids went on to be current-day garda. They're feckers these days.

[@conlaiarla]

That's why you are not even " buck private " material. Judging by your name you are just another of the beaten people from North of the border. Make wonderful beaters up there I hear..😂