What did Irish independence mean, in the end?

Would these guys have been happy today?

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To be fair to Sinn Fein of the 1960s, commentators like Roy Johnston and Anthony Coughlan saw the danger (from the United Irishman newspaper, June 1969):

Approaching 50 years since the Arms Crisis, a thread based on "The Thimbleriggers"

13 Aug 69: The story begins with the Battle of the Bogside. Captain Kelly from Irish Army intelligence is on leave visiting friends in Derry and gets involved: "All the men were needed up front"

17 Aug 69: Republican representatives from Belfast, including two Stormont MPs, visit Captain Kelly at home in Dublin. They ask Ireland to supply arms to nationalist areas in the North in the event of renewed rioting

8-12 Sep 69: Captain Kelly goes to the North to meet further local republican & nationalist representatives, guided by a Derry journalist working with the Irish government's NI Propaganda Unit

13 Sep 69: In Belfast Captain Kelly meets with Gerry Fitt, considered the mainstream voice of the NI nationalists. That night he watches Fitt help defuse a standoff between Catholic & Protestant mobs. Fitt (ex-Merchant Navy Atlantic convoys) asks Kelly that Ireland supply weapons

14-26 Sep 69: Captain Kelly reports to Colonel Hefferon (head of G2). Meets with Neil Blaney & Charles Haughey who run the cabinet's NI sub-committee, charged with providing aid to the Northern nationalist community. They already know of the request for arms.

27 Sep-03 Oct 69: Irish Army enlists 9 nationalists from Derry into the Army Reserve (with false Donegal addresses) to provide small arms training at Fort Dunree. News of this leaks and training for the second batch of 20 is cancelled the following week.

02 Oct 69 - Captain Kelly & Col Hefferon (head of G2, the Irish intelligence service) meet Charles Haughey to discuss arrangements for the upcoming Bailieboro conference with the various northern nationalist Defence Committees

04-05 Oct 69 - Meeting between Cpt Kelly and members of nationalist Defence Committees at Bailieboro.
Training and finance for arms is requested from Ireland for defensive purposes. But if the situation worsens, plans made to hold urban areas in NI until the Irish Army can invade

12 Nov 69 - Bank account for the "Belfast Fund for the Relief of Distress" is opened in Clones (Ireland). This is the vehicle which Charles Haughey uses to divert Irish Government aid money (1969 £70,000; worth ca. £1.1m today) for the purchase of arms.

28 Nov 69 - Captain Kelly meets with a suspected British agent provocateur in Dublin, "Captain" Markham-Randall, who offers to sell arms to the Defence Committee and claims he can help train the insurgents too.

Dec 69 - IRA split over proposed recognition of Ireland and Northern Ireland and the end of abstentionism. Breakaway group form the Provisional Army Council, led by an Englishman with an Irish grandmother...

Jan 70 - Neil Blaney, Minister of Agriculture, identifies a Hamburg arms dealer, Otto Schleuter as a possible supplier of guns. Downpayment of £3,000 made for a consignment of Hungarian pistols

Jan 70 - Captain Kelly requested to complete the Schleuter transaction. Agrees on condition that authorisation for doing so come from the Irish Government.

Jan 70 - Head of G2, Col Hefferon, suggests that a serving Irish Army officer cannot be involved, given that G2 is cooperating with the British on Cold War surveillance. Kelly submits request to retire on 21 Feb 70, with intention of carrying on the work at a different department

Feb 70 - Captain Kelly's request to retire is rejected by Gibbons, the Defence Minister, de facto authorising Kelly to continue with the arms importation plan as part of the Irish Army.

19 Feb 70 - Captain Kelly flies to Dortmund to pay Schleuter the third instalment and discuss transport and final payment. But no weapons are available for inspection

03 Mar 70 - Captain Kelly attends a reception at the Irish parliament for Northern insurgents, hosted by the Defence Minister, Gibbons. Gibbons assures the delegates that arms will be forthcoming

04 Mar 70 - Captain Kelly meets with Gibbons in his parliamentary office to discuss the arms purchase from Schleuter and Kelly's request to go back to West Germany and verify their existence

11 Mar 70 - Captain Kelly meets Schleuter in Antwerp to chase the shipment. Is told it is ready to go and will leave Antwerp on March 17th (St. Patrick's Day)

25 Mar 70 - Shipment arrives at Dublin docks, awaited by Captain Kelly and the IRA. Only 40 bulletproof vests arrive, the weapons have apparently been offloaded at Antwerp on a technicality. Kelly's doubts about Schleuter's reliability increase and he decides to return to Antwerp

01-02 Apr 70 - Captain Kelly and his interpreter, a Belgian Nazi sympathiser who sought asylum in Ireland after WW2 because he was wanted for denouncing people to the Gestapo, run down Schleuter in Hamburg.

03 Apr 70 - Schleuter tells the Irish Government representatives that the arms are already on a truck to Italy for onward export from there. Offers to divert arms at Vienna and charter a cargo flight to Dublin. He also offers 400 machine guns which are snapped up there and then.

04 Apr 70 - Captain Kelly returns to Dublin and briefs Defence Minister Gibbons on progress. Gibbons will later deny official Irish Government involvement in the importation...

07 Apr 70 - Original date for the charter flight from Vienna, which is missed when Schleuter's local agent decides to use scheduled flights and the shipment gets tied up in paperwork.

17 Apr 70 - Captain Kelly and Albert Luykcx go to Vienna to meet with Schleuter to make final arrangements for flying the arms to Dublin Airport the following week. Managing Director of the cargo airline Aer Turas steps in to fill the gap left by Aer Lingus

18 Apr 70 - Captain Kelly phones his wife from Vienna. She tells him that Col. Hefferon has called her to warn Kelly that the Garda Síochána Special Branch are waiting to arrest him in Dublin when he returns. Hefferon has been tipped off by the Transport Minister
@GardaReview

19 Apr 70 - Captain Kelly and Luyckx are joined in Vienna by their liaison contact in the new Provisional IRA. All are puzzled as to why the police have become involved and are opposing an official Irish Government operation.

20 Apr 70 - Captain Kelly receives a call in Vienna from Charles Haughey's office to tell him the operation is to be called off. Kelly informs the transport agent of the indefinite postponement.

21 Apr 70 - Captain Kelly and the IRA liaison officer fly back to Dublin. At arrivals they are interviewed by a plain clothes policeman but allowed to go on their way.

22 Apr 70 - Charles Haughey is hospitalised, falling from his horse on the morning of Budget Day, his absence from parliament triggering many rumours. The Taoiseach later forbids the police from investigating these, stoking suspicion and setting the mood for the Arms Crisis

23 Apr 70 - Captain Kelly, Col Hefferon (retired, 11 Apr 70), Blaney (Agriculture Minister) and Gibbons (Defence Minister) meet in Blaney's office to discuss why the police are threatening to seize the import. Gibbons hints that Kelly will be the fall guy ("in the hot seat").

27 Apr 70 - Captain Kelly meets with Gibbons at the Irish parliament buildings (Leinster House). Gibbons says Kelly is to leave G2, but carry on reporting to him privately. Gibbons' comment the previous week about Kelly being in the "hot seat" appears to him as an aberration.

28 Apr 70 - Captain Kelly is summoned to the office of the new head of G2, Col. Delaney and told to cease and desist any illegal activities outside the scope of his military duties. Kelly's application for his next leave is also blocked. He assumes a breakdown in communication

28 Apr 70 - That evening Capt. Kelly meets with Defence Minister Gibbons who claims Delaney has overreacted to the discovery of the arms plot. He tells Kelly to keep meeting with the IRA, not wishing them to realise Irish government support is being withdrawn.

28 Apr 70 - Worse than the conflicting instructions, Gibbons tells Kelly it was he, Gibbons, who instructed that Kelly's leave application should be blocked. No wonder his superiors are suspicious.
Captain Kelly now knows he will be the fall-guy, a "pawn in a very devious game"

29 Apr 70 - Captain Kelly submits his resignation from the Irish Army. He knows he will be the fall guy and wants to be able to defend himself in public which he can't do at court martial. Gibbons initially refuses to sign the forms until Kelly confronts him at his office

01 May 70 - James Kelly retires from the Irish Army and is arrested under Offences Again the State Act that morning. Told he can drive himself to jail, but to lock his car when he parks in the prison yard because "it's not safe here."

01 May 70 - Head of Special Branch (police anti-terrorist division) is Kelly's interrogator. Following the manual for Plod the world over, he insinuates that Kelly knows something about the murder of a police constable a few weeks previously (Guard Fallon)

01 May 70 - Kelly ups the ante and asks to speak with the Defence Minister. It dawns on the policemen that maybe the plot goes wider than just Haughey and Blaney, as the PM, Jack Lynch, has just announced that day to Cabinet.
Kelly's request is granted, he goes to Dublin Castle

01 May 70 - Defence Minister Gibbons won't see Kelly privately. He tries to persuade him to make a full statement to the police instead.
Kelly is suspicious, for if an offence has been committed, it's Gibbons who should be arrested.
Like St. Paul, Kelly appeals to Caesar ...

01 May 70 - Kelly has his audience with the Taoiseach, Jack Lynch. Lynch tries to get Kelly to name Blaney and Haughey as co-conspirators. Kelly won't play ball, reckoning that the whole government is implicated. Lynch suggests that if released, Kelly ought to flee the country

01 May 70 - Kelly is taken back to jail. Page 2 of the global Plod manual says it's time for a midnight interrogation. Apparently the Belgian ex-Nazi collaborator, now international fixer, has confessed everything!
The police hint Kelly should turn tout and save himself the worst

01 May 70 - President De Valera calls the Secretary to the Justice Department, Peter Berry (Civil Service boss of the Gardai) direct to discuss the reliability of the police and Army's allegiance to the State. He doesn't ask Lynch, which is curious in itself...

02 May 70 - Kelly is interviewed by the head of Special Branch again, who admits the Taoiseach probably had knowledge of the Bailieboro conference with the "Defence Committees" in October. Kelly asks if he should break contact with the IRA, is told not to. He is then released

06 May 70 - Lynch sacks Haughey and Blaney from Cabinet at 3am. Worse is to come for them. In parliament, the opposition leader claims action was only taken after he disclosed he was getting leaks from the police.
Kelly can't believe that Gibbons' name is absent from the drama

06 May 70 - It transpires the following year that Cosgrave received a letter from the retired head of Special Branch, naming Gibbons along with Haughey. But Gibbons isn't named in the Dail. Kelly suspects collusion between Lynch and Cosgrave to limit the damage to the state

07 May 70 - The Dail debate finishes at 3am. Kelly & his IRA liaison officer listen to it on the radio at Kelly's house. They weigh up whether to go public with the real story, but are concerned this will break all trust between northern Nationalists & the Irish Government

07 May 70 - The story to the IRA for now is that operational mistakes have been made - a breakdown in communication between police and Army. The full story is that the Lynch government has been caught and changed course completely, abandoning the idea of arming the IRA.

07 May 70 - The cover up continues. Gibbons is promoted (in Irish political terms) from Defence to Agriculture, a reminder of the importance of EEC accession.
Ireland's application will be submitted in only in seven weeks' time, on 30 June.

08 May 70 - A 36-hr debate starts in the Dail. Gibbons claims he discharged his own duties and that he had begun to believe Kelly was unsuitable for his job.
Kelly comes home to find his 13-yo daughter in tears at hearing this on the radio and explodes, deciding to go public

08 May 70 - The press and TV camp outside his house. Kelly states Gibbons was fully aware of the operation to arm the IRA. He states he spoke with the Taoiseach.
Back at the Dail, John Bruton (future PM) reads Kelly's statement into the record under privilege

09 May 70 - In the small hours, Brian Lenihan (Minister of Transport speaking in the Dail reports that Gibbons has the full confidence of the PM. Earlier in the year Lenihan praised Kelly's arms facilitator, Luyckx for the "good job" the Belgian was doing for Ireland

09 May 70 - Jack Lynch winds up the Dail debate. He insinuates that Kelly's refusal to name Haughey & Blaney to the police is evidence of the former captain's guilt. Kelly's partial statement without names gives Lynch the excuse to keep Gibbons in the clear

10-17 May 70 - Lynch might claim Defence Minister Gibbons was against arming the IRA, but you don't double-cross the Movement.
That week, a hit squad from Belfast turns up at Kelly's house in Dublin, ready to assassinate Gibbons.
Kelly persuades them it wouldn't help their cause

25 May 70 - Haughey (who was sacked by Lynch on the 7th) issues a statement categorically denying he has been involved in any *illegal* importation of arms

Like Kelly, he knows the buck stops with Lynch

27 May 70 - Kelly's IRA liaison officer is arrested in the morning, Kelly in the afternoon along with the Belgian fixer, Luyckx. Charged with contravening the Firearms Act (so not treason)

Kelly announces he's going on hunger strike, Luyckx has a roast pheasant brought from home

28 May 70 - Charles Haughey (future PM) is arrested along with his fellow Cabinet minister, Neil Blaney, for importing arms for the IRA.

Kelly is bailed for £2,500 (£40,000 today) against the wishes of Special Branch

28 May 70 - Former minister Boland calls a press conference. Complains that Kelly's IRA liaison officer is allowed to freely go about his business by the British in Belfast, but gets arrested in Dublin.
Claims that the Taoiseach stopping arming the IRA is an act of treachery

28 May 70 - the Taoiseach responds, saying he has put the affair out of his hands into those of the Attorney-General and therefore all further discussion at this point is sub judice

Jun-Aug 70 - the government try to grind Kelly down. Pension and leaving gratuity from the Irish Army are denied, leaving the family at risk of eviction. Personal donations of money & food keep them afloat

Jun-Aug 70 - Kelly tries to find a lawyer for the upcoming trial in September, but encounters reluctance. James Fitzpatrick & Co do offer to take him on. A mystery caller tries to warn them off, claiming connections to the 'very top' of Fianna Fail (i.e. the Prime Minister)

22 Sep 70 - The Arms Trial opens in Dublin. The prosecution quote figures of "500 pistols" and "180,000 rounds" for effect and insinuate that Kelly's old boss, Col Hefferon, thought the captain had become over-emotional in response to pleas from Northern "defence committees"

24 Sep 70 - Gibbons takes the witness stand and immediately drops Kelly in it. Claims Kelly asked to leave the Army so he could fight for the IRA in the North. But also admits Kelly had discussed the import of arms through Dublin docks with him in March

24 Sep 70 - Gibbons admission carries the implication that the Irish Government would have needed to authorise the shipment North. Defence counsel for Kelly's IRA liaison officer gets Gibbons to admit to calling Kelly 'Ho Chi Minh' in jest, a reference to the Ho Chi Minh Trail

24 Sep 70 - Gibbons further admits to a Feb 06 Directive authorising 'contingency actions' i.e. the arming of the IRA and the limited invasion of Northern Ireland. He concedes that 500 rifles were prepositioned in Dundalk on Apr 02 following the Ballymurphy riots