Except (in theory anyways) isn’t the exactly what the IRA want, a republic of Ireland that is all of the island? But I can certainly see them being unhappy with the outcome, precisely because it’s about the conflict and the glory of battle, not about obtaining a specific political outcome, not really anyway. But that does go both ways, I believe. On some level, this is about toxic masculinity, and some sort of legitimating violence giving cover to it.
I’m not so sure, but that is an entirely plausible interpretation of what’s happening. It’s highly unlikely that the UK can rebuild empire in the far flung reaches where it once was, but Ireland was their first foray into empire, and is just right there… I can see some pro-Empire factions believing that everything started to go wrong with Irish independence…
