1970 – An Phoblacht
The year in which the republican movement fractures irrevocably. The split between the Provisional and Official IRA, formalised at the January Army Convention, produces two competing organisations, two Army Councils, and two newspapers. The Provisionals launch An Phoblacht as the voice of the movement that had rejected the Goulding leadership’s political direction, while Republican News emerges in Belfast as a separate northern publication reflecting the particular urgency of the situation on the ground there.
Together they establish the twin pillars of Provisional republican journalism, each with its own character and regional emphasis but united in their rejection of the settlement of 1921 and their support for the developing armed campaign. These early issues reflect a movement finding its feet, asserting its legitimacy, and responding to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the North where British troops, initially welcomed in some quarters, are already beginning to reveal the character of an occupying force.
1970 – An Phoblacht Bulletin
1970 – Republican News
1971 – An Phoblacht
Internment without trial, introduced on 9 August, transforms the conflict in the North and dominates republican journalism for the remainder of the year. The mass arrest of hundreds of nationalists — based on outdated intelligence and accompanied by widespread reports of ill-treatment — produces a surge in support for the Provisional IRA and a collapse in whatever remained of nationalist confidence in Stormont. An Phoblacht and Republican News chart this radicalisation in real time, their pages filled with internment lists, eyewitness testimony, and calls for intensified resistance.
 January (1) |  February (1) |  March (1) |
 April (1) |  May (1) |  June (1) |
 July (1) |  August (1) |  September (1) |
 An Phoblacht (October 1971) |  November (1) |  An Phoblacht (December 1971) |
 An Phoblacht (December 1971 Supplement) |
1971 – Republican News
 January/February (1) |  March (1) |  June (1) |
 25 September (1) |  30 October (1) |  12 December (1) |
 Republican News (April 1971) (1) |  Republican News (16 October 1971) (1) |  Republican News (20 November 1971) |
1972 – January
The bloodiest year of the conflict opens with Bloody Sunday — 30 January, when British paratroopers shoot dead fourteen civilians on the streets of Derry. The event sends shockwaves through Irish nationalist opinion North and South and is reflected with fury and grief in the republican press. Stormont is prorogued in March and direct rule from Westminster imposed, while the summer brings a brief and ultimately fruitless IRA ceasefire and secret talks in London. By year’s end the conflict has assumed the shape it will hold for decades, and the newspapers of the movement are firmly established as essential records of a society in crisis.
1972 – February
1972 – March
1972 – April
1972 – May
 May (1) |  08 May (1) |  21 May |
 28 May (1) |  An Phoblacht (May 1972) (1) |  Republican News (14 May 1972) (1) |
1972 – June
1972 – July
 July (1) |
1972 – August
1972 – September
 September (1) |  15 September (1) |  24 September (1) |
 29 September (1) |
1972 – October
1972 – November
1972 – December
 01 December (1) |  08 December (1) |
See Also:
(1) Donated by @irish_republican_archive
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