Excavating the Hidden History of American Involvement in Northern Ireland: Ali Watkins' The Next One Is for You

 The Next One Is for You: A True Story of Guns, Country, and the IRA's Secret American Army by Ali Watkins

The Next One Is For You book cover

Author Ali Watkins

Vince Conlon (carrying the American flag) plays a major role in gun shipments to the IRA

A cover from Cumann na mBan, an Irish women's organization that supported the IRA. 

Big thanks to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Ali Watkins exciting and surprising book detailing American involvement in the Troubles of Northern Ireland The Next One Is for you: A True Story of Guns, Country, and the IRA’s Secret American Army. Fellow Temple Alum Ali Watkins has written a fascinating, yet hidden history of the Philly connection to the IRA. What’s even more incredible about this book is how she is able to provide context and background to the complex and complicated political and social violence that besieged Northern Ireland from the 1960s up until the end of the 20^th century. With the recent Hulu series based on Patrick Radden Keefe’s excellent book Say Nothing, there seems to be a resurgence in the interest in the Troubles. While Radden Keefe’s book looks at a specific incident and the fallout from the philosophy of “say nothing”, Watkins’ book examines how American support intertwined with the dual nature of the Provisional IRA and the political art, or Sinn Fein. Watkins’ book examines how support from the Irish diaspora, specifically in Philadelphia, ended up arming and continuing the violence in Northern Ireland. I especially loved her epilogue, when she explains how she aimed to find out how one gun travelled from Philadelphia to Northern Ireland, and the lives it changed as a result. While she wasn’t able to interview some of those affected by the gun violence in Northern Ireland, her journalistic investigation and dogged research to excavate this hidden history helped to shed light into how so many American guns ended up in Northern Ireland.

In addition to being able to effectively explain the different factions in the IRA and the political and social (or maybe cultural) nature of the occupation of Northern Ireland began, Watkins also captures a vivid picture of 1970s Philadelphia and its suburbs, presenting where the gun running first occurred and how the Irish community in and around Philadelphia used a charitable aid organization as a front to ship guns over to Norther Ireland. As a lifelong Philadelphia resident whose own Irish ancestors immigrated to South Philly in the early 20^th century, I was amazed that I didn’t know more about this story. Although my family hails from Letterkenny in Co. Donnegal, not too far from Derry on the border, I’m guessing my relatives weren’t really involved. My great-grandmother was, from my understanding, fleeing a situation where she was responsible for taking care of a lot of her younger siblings. I don’t know too much about her brothers, but it was fascinating to learn how the Irish community in Philly largely kept the mantra of “say nothing”, while facilitating large shipments of arms meant to inflict violence and harm on a colonizing country. I was amazed at how these regular, blue-collar immigrants, many of them contractors and roofers, were able to purchase massive amounts of weapons and ship them overseas for many years without any kind of attention from the feds. Watkins’ reporting and analysis helps to show not only how much of a different time it was, but also how their charitable organizations and social clubs served as a front for collecting money and shipping out weapons. In addition, Watkins also contextualizes the socio and political nature of England’s occupation of Northern Ireland, exploring how many Irish in America felt strongly about the British presence in Norther Ireland, and as a result, politicians were not as willing to pursue investigations into a cause that might sour a large voting block. It was interesting to think about with political violence in other occupied areas, and how the situations differ. While Watkins wasn’t making any comparisons in her book, it’s hard not to think about other current regions and how politicians still struggle (or maybe don’t) with supporting people challenging colonialism and occupation.

Watkins’ writing also brought to life many of the main players in this hidden arms-smuggling venture. Learning about Vince Conlon and Daniel Cahalane, and their NORAID organization, was fascinating. Her research and interviews with family members brought these figures to life, and readers get a good sense of what they were like as men. It was also great to see that she and her publisher included images and photos of these individuals within the book. I loved being able to get a sense of who they were, as well as seeing some of the older photos of Philly from the 1970s. Watkins reporting also ventures to Northern Ireland, specifically retelling the story of Geraldine Crawford, a young girl whose life is changed by her involvement with the IRA. Interestingly, her life intersects with the Price sisters, whose story was told by Radden Keefe’s book (and the Hulu series on which it was based). These were some of the most intriguing chapters within Watkins’ book, since it provided an insight into life in Norther Ireland at the time, but they also gave us an insight into the implications of the gun smuggling and how it affected the lives of both the Irish Catholics and the British Protestants during this violent time in Northern Ireland.

The latter chapters of the book detail the legal cases that were eventually brought against the Irish American men responsible for sending guns to Northern Ireland. The case is fascinating for the vast extent of weapons shipped overseas as well as how long it occurred, but also because of how unsuccessful the case was. Despite winning some convictions, the prosecutors were unable to prove without reasonable doubt that the guns used in Northern Ireland were directly tied to the American aid organizations like NORAID. Watkins’ research into the cases uncovered a fascinating, but forgotten story of politics, guns, and violence. In these later chapters, we also learn the fate of the Irish American men who helped to arm the IRA, as well as how a delicate peace was eventually navigated and achieved in Northern Ireland in the late 1990s. I actually remember both before and after the peace, and visited Northern Ireland in 1999, shortly after the Good Friday accords, so it was really interesting to read this section as well. Reading about how peace was eventually achieved raised many questions for me about the nature of violence in Northern Ireland and around the world. There were some factions of the IRA that broke away from peace talks and still wanted to pursue violence as a means to an end. Most of the men involved in the American gun shipments didn’t live to see the peace, but I wondered what their reaction would be. Would they have sided with Gerry Adams and accepted a seat at the table? This was a wonderfully exciting and engaging book that I couldn’t put down. The short chapters were filled with details, and Watkins stye, balancing carefully researched facts with narrative reconstructions of the events and those involved in this secret gun-smuggling campaign kept me reading through to find out what would happen next. This was a fascinating book that not only excavated a hidden history of American involvement in a foreign war against colonialism, but also provided insightful context and background to further understand the complexities of the fraught social and political violence that has plagued Northern Ireland (and the rest of Ireland) for over 400 years. My only suggestion would be to include some kind of organization chart or a list of individuals involved. There were a lot of different people involved in both the shipping of arms and the investigation into the arms smuggling, and sometimes I found myself having to go back and check out who was involved in which way. This kind of list would help to see who was involved in which way. Highly recommended book.