South Armagh IRA: Inside Northern Ireland’s ‘Bandit Country’
165 British Forces members were killed by the IRA in south Armagh from 1970-1997
An IRA 'active service unit' on the South Armagh border
It was the then Northern Ireland secretary, Merlyn Ress, who christened south Armagh ‘Bandit Country’ in 1974.
The area became the heartland of the Provisional IRA’s notorious South Armagh Brigade, who took the lives of hundreds of people – British soldiers, RUC officers and civilians.
Alongside paramilitary operations, it was widely accused of profiting from smuggling across the Irish border.
Journalist Toby Harnden wrote the book ‘Bandit Country: The IRA and South Armagh’ in 1999.
The book has stood the test of time and has now been republished, without changes.
But how did an English journalist manage to get the IRA’s most secretive members to open up to him?
He joins Ciarán Dunbar to tell the story of his experiences in ‘Bandit Country’.
South Armagh IRA: Inside Northern Ireland's 'Bandit Country'
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