History wars – Interview with Irish historian John Regan
We speak to historian John Regan on how the history of the Irish revolutionary period in 1916-23 has been written in the light of the political climate of late 20th century Ireland. Questions by John Dorney
Civil War
In the 1990s, the consensus in Ireland on the Civil War of 1922-23 was that it was contest between democrats, on the pro-Treaty side and would be dictators on the anti-Treaty or Republican side.
Here Regan argues that this interpretation not only reduces a complex event to a simple, ‘good versus bad’ scenario, it also involves ignoring the British threat of war should the Treaty not be implemented.