Foreign Agent Episode 3: Agents of the State

Foreign Agent: The IRA’s American connection

After Bloody Sunday in 1972, Irish Northern Aid saw its power, influence and donations increase dramatically — but a higher profile brought new enemies. Secretly, the Federal Bureau of Investigation turned its sights on Noraid: auditing their books, cultivating informers and staking out meetings. On the public stage, Irish American politicians like Ted Kennedy, who had once wooed voters with their militant rhetoric against the British, began working to turn the community away from the IRA. An array of powerful actors had finally taken notice and were ready to clamp down. But Noraid had some moves of its own to make.

Further reading:
The American Connection by Jack Holland
Irish America and the Ulster Conflict by Andrew Wilson
The Provisional IRA: From Insurrection to Parliament by Tommy McKearney
‘It was networking, all networking’: the Irish republican movement’s survival in Cold War America by Danielle Zach

Hosted by Nate Lavey
Produced by Nate Lavey and Michael McCanne
Original music by Matt Huxley

https://novara.media/ForeignAgent