Troops Out Movement

The Troops Out Movement (TOM) was an Irish republican solidarity organisation established in the United Kingdom in 1973 during the early years of the Troubles. It emerged in response to British Army actions in Northern Ireland, including the Bloody Sunday and Ballymurphy massacres, and made two central demands: the withdrawal of British troops from Ireland and the right of the Irish people as a whole to determine the island's constitutional future. The organisation also opposed discriminatory treatment of Catholics in Northern Ireland and supported demilitarisation of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Ulster Special Constabulary. TOM was founded in London in late 1973 and held its first major public meeting at Fulham Town Hall on 24 October that year. Branches were soon established in Manchester, Coventry and Birmingham, and the movement claimed more than 1,200 members by 1975. Although it described itself as a single-issue organisation, its membership drew heavily from the British left, Irish community organisations, trade unions, humanitarian groups, anti-racist and anti-fascist campaigns, religious organisations and other progressive networks. These connections enabled TOM to campaign across British political and civic life rather than operate solely as an Irish nationalist pressure group. The movement's activities included public meetings, conferences, demonstrations, concerts, publications, delegations to Northern Ireland, organised visits to Ireland and coordination between branches throughout Britain. It sought to explain the political background of the Troubles to British audiences and worked with organisations in Ireland, Great Britain and other countries that shared elements of its analysis. TOM also organised distinctive Black Flag protests when Irish republican hunger strikers died in Northern Ireland. Its relationship with Sinn Féin became close as the conflict intensified, although TOM attempted to distinguish itself from the Provisional IRA. The organisation argued that armed resistance could be understood as a response to discrimination against Catholics, while presenting its own work as political campaigning and public education. This position generated controversy and placed TOM within the wider disputes over British policy, republican violence, loyalist paramilitarism and the legitimacy of the Northern Ireland state. The movement was infiltrated between 1974 and 1976 by an undercover officer from the Metropolitan Police's Special Demonstration Squad, who obtained a leadership position. In later decades TOM criticised both British and Irish government policies, including security measures directed at the IRA, alleged shoot-to-kill operations, detention, torture, covert actions and the use of rubber and plastic bullets. During the 1990s it supported the Good Friday Agreement where it addressed justice, policing, equality, demilitarisation, employment discrimination, cultural rights and the Irish language, but argued that the settlement did not adequately protect republican communities from sectarian loyalist attacks. Following the Good Friday Agreement, republican and loyalist ceasefires and the broader reduction in conflict, TOM's activity diminished. By the middle of the 2000s, few active branches were reported, its monthly newspaper had ceased publication and its irregular online briefing was no longer operating. The organisation's later formal status is unclear from the available reference material. Its historical significance lies in its role as a British-based campaign and communications network that linked Irish republican demands with wider anti-militarist, anti-discrimination and international solidarity activism.

The Troops Out Movement formed in London in late 1973 against the background of escalating conflict in Northern Ireland. Its creation followed British Army operations and allegations of state violence, including the Bloody Sunday and Ballymurphy massacres involving the Parachute Regiment. TOM framed the Northern Ireland conflict as a question of British colonial rule, civil rights and national self-determination. Its principal demands were the removal of British troops from Ireland and the exercise of self-determination by the Irish people as a whole, rather than a settlement determined solely by the British government or by the constitutional majority within Northern Ireland. The organisation's first principal public meeting took place at Fulham Town Hall on 24 October 1973. By the end of that year it had branches in Manchester, Coventry and Birmingham, and by 1975 it claimed a membership of over 1,200. TOM developed a networked structure based on local branches, public education and public demonstrations. It worked among Britain's Irish communities and established links with trade unions, churches, anti-racist and anti-Nazi organisations, cultural groups, humanitarian campaigners and international solidarity movements. Although TOM described itself as a single-issue organisation, its political culture reflected the wider British left and socially progressive movements. This influenced its opposition to discrimination against Catholics, its support for demilitarisation and its campaigns concerning policing and security policy. It also produced publications, held conferences and concerts, arranged delegations and managed visits to Ireland and Northern Ireland. Through these activities it sought to make the political and humanitarian dimensions of the Troubles more visible to British audiences. Its Black Flag protests marked the deaths of Irish republican hunger strikers and became one of the movement's recognisable forms of direct action. As violence intensified, TOM developed close links with Sinn Féin. At the same time, it tried to maintain a distinction between its political campaigning and the armed activities of the Provisional IRA. The movement argued that armed struggle was a comprehensible response to discrimination and state policy, a position that placed it in a contentious relationship with British governments and with organisations opposed to republican violence. Its broad coalition also created internal and external tensions because partners in Britain and Ireland did not always share its views on feminism, gay rights, anti-racism, constitutional politics or the use of armed force. TOM was subject to police infiltration from 1974 to 1976. An undercover officer of the Special Demonstration Squad entered the organisation and reached a leadership position. The episode became part of the wider history of undercover policing of political organisations in Britain and raised questions about surveillance, political legitimacy and the boundaries between intelligence gathering and disruption. During the 1990s, TOM continued to campaign on the conduct of security forces and governments. It opposed measures adopted by the Irish government against the IRA and alleged abuses including shoot-to-kill operations, torture, detention, covert military or paramilitary activity, false confessions and media manipulation. It also called for an end to rubber and plastic bullets in Northern Ireland. The organisation supported the Good Friday Agreement to the extent that it advanced reforms involving justice, policing, equality, demilitarisation, employment discrimination, cultural rights and the Irish language. However, it criticised the agreement for not fully addressing sectarian attacks by loyalist paramilitaries against republican communities. The peace process and subsequent ceasefires reduced the circumstances that had sustained TOM's campaigning. Its activity declined after the Good Friday Agreement, and by the mid-2000s few, if any, active branches were reported. Its monthly newspaper had stopped and its occasional online briefing was no longer active. The sources do not establish a precise dissolution date or a current organisational structure. TOM is therefore best understood as a historically significant campaign movement whose principal period of activity ran from the 1970s through the peace-process era.

• 2000

  Marked decline in organisational activity

  [1]Troops Out Movementen.wikipedia.org

  After the peace process and related ceasefires, TOM's branches, newspaper and online activity diminished significantly.

• 1998

  Position on the Good Friday Agreement

  [1]Troops Out Movementen.wikipedia.org

  TOM supported elements of the peace agreement while arguing that it did not resolve all issues concerning policing, demilitarisation and sectarian attacks.

• 1975

  Reported membership passes 1,200

  [1]Troops Out Movementen.wikipedia.org

  The movement claimed more than 1,200 members and maintained branches in multiple British cities.

• 1974

  Special Demonstration Squad infiltration begins

  [1]Troops Out Movementen.wikipedia.org

  An undercover police operation infiltrated TOM; the officer involved later obtained a leadership position.

• 1973

  Organisation founded in London

  [1]Troops Out Movementen.wikipedia.org

  The Troops Out Movement was established in the United Kingdom to campaign against British military involvement in Northern Ireland and for Irish self-determination.

• 1973

  First major public meeting

  [1]Troops Out Movementen.wikipedia.org

  TOM held its first principal public meeting at Fulham Town Hall on 24 October.

A British-based Irish republican solidarity and anti-militarist movement focused on ending British military involvement in Northern Ireland, advancing all-Ireland self-determination and opposing discriminatory and coercive state policies.

• 1974

  Infiltration by an undercover police officer

  Between 1974 and 1976, a Special Demonstration Squad officer infiltrated TOM and reached a leadership position, exposing the organisation to covert state surveillance.

  Source

Read more

• 1990Opposition to rubber and plastic bullets

  Northern Ireland · United Kingdom

  TOM campaigned for an immediate end to the use of rubber and plastic bullets in Northern Ireland.

  Outcome. The campaign formed part of the movement's broader opposition to coercive security measures.

  Source
• 1973British troops out of Ireland

  United Kingdom · Northern Ireland · Ireland

  TOM's central campaign called for the withdrawal of British troops from Northern Ireland and presented British military involvement as a barrier to a peaceful political settlement.

  Outcome. The demand remained the movement's defining political objective, but the available material does not record its formal achievement.

  Source
• 1973Irish self-determination

  United Kingdom · Ireland · Northern Ireland

  The movement advocated self-determination for the Irish people as a whole rather than a constitutional future determined exclusively within Northern Ireland.

  Outcome. The campaign shaped TOM's political identity and public education work; no separate organisational outcome is specified.

  Source
• 1970Black Flag protests

  United Kingdom

  TOM organised Black Flag demonstrations in Britain on occasions when Irish republican hunger strikers in Northern Ireland died.

  Outcome. The protests publicised republican grievances and connected events in Northern Ireland with British public debate.

  Source
• 1970Anti-discrimination and demilitarisation campaign

  United Kingdom · Northern Ireland

  The movement opposed discriminatory policies against Catholics and called for the demilitarisation of Northern Irish policing structures, including the Ulster Special Constabulary.

  Outcome. These demands remained recurring elements of TOM's political programme throughout the Troubles.

  Source

• 1998

  Conditional support for the Good Friday AgreementStrategy

  Background

  The peace agreement addressed several issues that TOM had long raised, including justice, policing, equality, demilitarisation, employment discrimination, cultural rights and the Irish language.

  Action taken

  TOM supported the agreement on those grounds while continuing to criticise its treatment of sectarian attacks against republican communities.

  Aftermath

  The agreement and subsequent ceasefires contributed to a decline in the political conditions that had sustained TOM's organising activity.

  Source

• 1990

  Expansion of criticism to Irish government security policyStrategy

  Background

  TOM opposed measures by the Irish government intended to suppress the IRA and alleged abuses connected with security policy.

  Action taken

  The movement campaigned against alleged shoot-to-kill operations, torture, detention, covert actions, false confessions and misleading media coverage.

  Aftermath

  These campaigns broadened TOM's criticism from British rule in Northern Ireland to coercive policies adopted by both governments.

  Source

1. 1Troops Out Movementen.wikipedia.org