Shane McElhatton

Dublin

Series Editor at RTÉ

Series Editor, Decade of Commemorations, RTÉ Radio One; lover of history,Irish and ancient; second generation Chelsea Football Club #CFC supporter + member

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Articles

100 years since Army mutiny threatened new Civil War

Mar 6, 2024 | rte.ie | Shane McElhatton

On Thursday 6 March 1924, the Irish Free State was plunged into yet another crisis when a group of Army officers, angry at being demobilised after the Civil War, threatened mutiny if their demands were not met. They sent a letter to the President of the Free State, William Cosgrave, demanding that the Army's ruling body, the Army Council, be dismissed and the process of demobilisation halted.
Pub raid heightens tensions amid 1924 army mutiny

Mar 3, 2024 | rte.ie | Shane McElhatton

The Free State government thought its offer of terms to the Army mutineers had saved the day - until their own soldiers kicked in the doors of Devlin's pub. The raidEven as the terms to the mutineers were being drawn up, word was filtering in to the Army high command that officers involved in the mutiny were meeting over several nights in Devlin’s Public House on Parnell Street, a former IRA hideout from the War of Independence.
Army mutiny of 1924 threatens to ignite a new civil war

Mar 2, 2024 | rte.ie | Shane McElhatton |'Emergency arrangements'

The soldiers crouched on the roof of Devlin's Public House could hardly believe their ears. Below them, in a valley between two rooftops, they had cornered 11 men, trench-coated and armed. One of the trapped men looked over the parapet and in a parade-ground voice, one clearly used to being obeyed, yelled one word - "Surrender!"Taken aback for a moment, the soldiers then remembered why they had climbed up on the roof in the first place. They moved forward.
Redrawing of border considered as possible solution

Dec 29, 2023 | rte.ie | David McCullagh |Shane McElhatton

Secret government documents from 1975 considered what might happen in the event of a British withdrawal from Northern Ireland. The cabinet ordered civil servants to draw up a series of discussion papers looking at possible scenarios in July 1974, shortly after the collapse of the Sunningdale power-sharing agreement, at a time when paramilitary violence was intensifying and when there were serious doubts about the British government's commitment to stay in the North.
In the shadow of violence: the struggle to build peace

Dec 29, 2023 | rte.ie | David McCullagh |Shane McElhatton

The signing of the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April, 1998 was rightly seen as a momentous moment in this island's history, a moment when irreconcilable differences were reconciled, when generations of enmity were overcome, by a deal which offered something to everyone. It was a triumph of diplomacy, a gigantic effort underpinned by heroic exertions by the parties in Northern Ireland, and by the Irish, British and American governments. As it turned out, that was the easy bit.
Decommissioning a 'collective act of reconciliation'

Dec 28, 2023 | rte.ie | David McCullagh |Shane McElhatton

Under a 1999 plan to break the decommissioning logjam, British prime minister Tony Blair backed a proposal for the RUC and British Army, along with the IRA and loyalists, to have weapons destroyed in what was described as a "collective act of reconciliation". But officials feared that RUC Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan could resign over the plan, as it appeared to treat the security forces as equivalent to paramilitaries.
Mowlam 'inundated' with offers to help peace process

Dec 28, 2023 | rte.ie | David McCullagh |Shane McElhatton

Much of the focus on the history of the Good Friday Agreement has naturally been on the talks themselves. But newly released government documents cast new light on the fraught security situation outside Castle Buildings, and on the difficulty of winning the subsequent referendum - particularly because of politicians from outside trying to be helpful.
British concerns 'Peter will get us into trouble'

Dec 28, 2023 | rte.ie | David McCullagh |Shane McElhatton

Peter Mandelson came to Belfast in October 1999 with a lot to prove. A legendary political operator and close friend of Tony Blair, his previous cabinet post as trade secretary was ended the previous year by an ethics scandal after just six months.
Five other things the State papers reveal

Dec 28, 2023 | rte.ie | David McCullagh |Shane McElhatton

Every year, the release of State Papers around Christmas time draws a flurry of interest as stories that many may have forgotten resurface.
Protests a 'daily tirade of abuse and intimidation'

Dec 28, 2023 | rte.ie | David McCullagh |Shane McElhatton

Few episodes illustrated the continuing tensions in post-Good Friday Agreement Northern Ireland more than the loyalist protest against the pupils of Holy Cross primary school in Ardoyne in Belfast. The children and their parents faced a "daily tirade of abuse and intimidation" on their way to and from school each weekday for months on end. As a Department of Foreign Affairs official noted, "the trouble started on 20 June 2001...