Divided We Stand details the twists and turns in the ideological genealogy of militant Irish republicanism, with a specific focus on its most recent iteration in the form of Violent Dissident Republicans (VDRs). Written by an internationally respected terrorism expert, Professor John Horgan, the book addresses several core issues for scholars and students engaged in the study of Irish-related terrorism.

Each chapter offers a useful examination of the strategies, psychology, and tactics of VDRs and is underpinned by Horgan's unique behavioral approach to terrorism research. However, the key question that arises in relation to yet another book on Northern Ireland is: Does this one really say anything new about the phenomenon of Irish republican terrorism? The answer, happily, is yes. There remains an urgent need not only to continue to highlight the complex challenge posed by dissident republican terrorists, who constitute a “Tier One” threat to British national security, but also to fine-tune our analysis of who these individuals are and what it is that they want. As Horgan reminds us, these groups have demonstrated time and time again that they have the intent, if not always the operational capability, to attack national security targets. In this respect there is a palpable need for scholars and national security planners to take them more seriously.

So, who are these people? What makes them want to pursue a path of “armed struggle,” a path that has never succeeded in the past and shows no sign of succeeding in the future? Part of the answer is detailed in the impressive data sets generated by Horgan. For the first time we have quantitative insights into the types of individuals who become active in this brand of terrorism. We know, for instance, that the majority of those convicted for VDR activity fall into the 21–30 and 31–40 age ranges (90), but that these groups draw people of all ages. Startlingly, however, the youngest members of these groups were born after the worst years of the “troubles,” making it intriguing that they should turn to terrorism in such dramatically altered social and political circumstances. The heterogeneous and diverse nature of dissident personnel points toward a wide array of social, economic, and political issues giving rise to dissidence rather than a simple case of ideological indoctrination (see chap. 6).

Perhaps a more important question addressed in Divided We Stand is: What do these people want? “As long as there is British involvement in Ireland, these attacks will continue,” stated the “North Armagh battalion” of the Continuity IRA, in the aftermath of the murder of Constable Stephen Carroll (110). Horgan cites this and countless other excerpts from dissident dogma as evidence of the verbose language of these groups, which is ultimately used to legitimize their myopic terrorist actions. Since 2009 there have been six murders and countless attacks by VDRs. And while the author presents evidence (177) to suggest that such groups are unlikely to cease such militant activity, he does offer some penetrating insights into why they feel the need to continue their “armed struggle.” In one particularly revealing vignette, he concludes that “strategic, goal-orientated, or organizational issues are barely as important, and at times less important, than overriding personality figures and prevailing social issues” (42). Here, Horgan breaks new ground in our understanding of these groups.

Moreover, while Horgan suggests that there is “no single overarching strategy that unifies the dissident groups” (129), and that their inability to link tactics with strategic success can be attributed to their “reality” being “not always that strategic or linear” (131), it is clear that dissidents have placed a disproportionate amount of emphasis on the almost mythical allure of “armed struggle.” In practice this means they have chosen to target individual members (usually Catholics) of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, prison officers, and British soldiers garrisoned in Northern Ireland. However, it appears that they do so in the mistaken belief that the ways and means will carry them through to their utopian end goals, which is ultimately about removing the British “presence” from Ireland, ending partition, and creating a united Ireland. In reality, armed struggle has never achieved these ends and it is unlikely ever to do so. Reading Horgan's book one wonders whether the prospect of achieving these goals is really what is driving VDRs or whether it is something else entirely. In line with his earlier, brilliant research on the psychology of engagement and disengagement from terrorism, Horgan reveals that Irish republicans are converts more to the fantasy and illusion of “keeping the flame alive” (132, 151; a concept attributed to the work of Dr. Martyn Frampton) than to the doomed nature of their project. Thus, it is in this light that we must see the justification given by dissident republicans for their violence as discourse riddled with cliché (179).

An interesting point made in the book, but not fully explored, is whether the justification given to previous campaigns of violence perpetrated by the Provisional IRA can be explained in similar terms. Anyone who has ever witnessed a Provisional IRA commemorative march or rally will know the purchase this organization places on “historical commemoration and gun culture” (142), albeit by making specific contextual linkages to the “long war.” So divided are republicans that on Easter Sunday commemorations a polyglot of factions are required to queue up to await their turn in paying respects, often to the same “republican martyrs.” Horgan explains in considerable detail not only the reasons for this but why it is likely to determine the strategy they follow. In this sense it is worth highlighting how, despite recent moves to amalgamate rival militant factions, not all dissident republicans are united in their ends, ways, or means.

The book is not without some minor flaws, such as redundant observations like “each of the dissident groups was born of a complex, messy, and mostly private history, the true story of which will probably never emerge” (155). While this might well be factually true, there is an intuitive requirement for academics to go the extra mile by undertaking advanced qualitative research, including interviews, rather than relying on the second-hand accounts of journalists or other academics. The one disappointing feature of Divided We Stand is the lack of qualitative interviews with dissident republicans or, perhaps more accessibly, a content analysis of the countless court reports that give us fresh insight into their behavior. Interviewing former and active terrorists has certainly been done in relation to other republicans and loyalists, even amid the height of their respective campaigns. Indeed, Professor Horgan was a pioneer in the field of interviewing Provisional republicans for his earlier work and remains among only a handful of commentators to have led by example in researching terrorism at close quarters. To be fair to Professor Horgan, Divided We Stand is not that sort of book. It is much more valuable in offering students of Irish republicanism both an advanced literature review and a quantitative overview of the kinds of individuals who become VDRs, where they come from, what ages they are, and what it is that they want.

On the whole, Divided We Stand is a fine piece of scholarship. It includes new data and analysis that will keep even the most jaded student of Irish politics engaged. Despite criticisms above, it represents one of the most advanced and readable analyses we have on the ideas and actions of dissident republicans.