Paisley wanted ‘IRA nests’ targeted

There were very real fears within government in 1982 that loyalists could launch a bombing campaign south of the border on the back of “inflammatory” comments by Ian Paisley.

Martin Mansergh, then a special adviser to taoiseach Charlie Haughey on the North, said the government should consider contacting the British government over comments in which Paisley had suggested the British government should target what he called “IRA nests” in the Republic.

In a communiqué to the taoiseach on Jul 13, Mansergh wrote: “I consider that there is some serious danger that under the influence of the Falklands and the Lebanon, where strong arm military methods appear to produce quick clearcut political solutions, Loyalist paramilitaries might decide to renew attacks on the South.