Just war in context: Irish liberation theology 1968-1998

Abstract

‘A Protestant state for a Protestant people’; the state of Northern Ireland maintained a fraught relationship with the two-fifths of the population who were not fortunate enough to be included in this famous dictum. The mistreatment of this Catholic minority took the form of discrimination in employment, housing, elections, and the judiciary; and was evidenced in the practice of torture, censorship and state-sponsored terrorism.

A small number of Christians working in these marginalised communities, influenced by the Second Vatican Council and the development of Liberation Theology in Latin America, discerned in Scripture, God’s historical commitment to the oppressed. This understanding bore two defining features: 1) the world as it exists today is part of the Kingdom of God; and 2) action to challenge oppression in all spheres of human life, including the political and the socio-economic, is a necessary constituent of the Christian life. These people practiced Liberation Theology through community action while disseminating theoretical Liberation Theology through the publication of pamphlets, newspaper articles and occasionally books.

This thesis uses the insights of Liberation Theology to explore whether the conditions necessary for Just War, Jus ad Bellum, were met with reference to the state of Northern Ireland prior to, and in the early stages of the conflict known as the Troubles (1968-1998). This study applies the traditional Jus ad Bellum criteria of: 1) Just Cause; 2) Legitimate Authority; 3) Proportionality; and 4) the Possibility of Success, to the Irish situation as analysed by Liberation Theology, in order to evaluate the Jus ad Bellum claims of Irish Republican insurgents.

The study finds that using analyses from a Republican perspective allows for a compelling case to be made that conditions were such that the Irish Republican insurgency might reasonably be regarded as just. However, while the current study assesses the conflict from a Republican perspective, it is predicated on the recognition that Unionist, Loyalist and British perspectives are also vital to achieving a fuller and more accurate understanding of the conflict.

The study concludes by reflecting on whether given the ever-broadening limits of Just War theory and the increasingly effective machinery of war, there remains any theological value in such a theory.

Thesis is embargoed until 30th June 2016

Date of Award	Jun 2014
Original language	English
Supervisor	Dianne Kirby (Supervisor) & Willa Murphy (Supervisor)