Description
Considering regional differences is an important imperative in the study of violent conflict. Stathis N. Kalyvas has emphasized that incorporating the local into research often uncovers the plurality of experiences and outcomes of conflict, as well as the presence of an ‘urban-bias’ in research on political violence that overlooks the significance of rural areas. In recent years, a growing body of literature concerning the Northern Ireland conflict has emerged that considers the Provisional Irish Republican Army’s (PIRA) violent campaign in rural areas including work by Henry Patterson, Amy Grubb and Thomas Leahy. However, regional differences between separate urban areas remain significant. This paper will draw upon local newspaper reportage, statistical data on conflict casualties and preexisting research to emphasise the disparity between PIRA violence in Belfast and Derry from 1970 to 1975. In Belfast, the PIRA conducted three somewhat interconnected campaigns against security forces, civilians targeting mostly property, as well as sporadically against loyalists, and inflicted significant civilian casualties. Significantly lower civilian casualties inflicted by the PIRA in Derry have been explained by arguments that their campaign was almost exclusively directed against the British Army in the city. However, this ignores the PIRA’s under-researched bombing campaign against civilian business premises in Derry’s city centre. This paper aims to illustrate the regionalised nature of political violence between different urban areas and not only across the urban-rural divide.
