In the 1970s, the Provisional IRA was in the early days of its armed campaign to end British rule on Ireland. In the United States, a small group of activists began organising on their behalf. They called themselves the Irish Northern Aid Committee, or Noraid—and they were looking for a fight.
Hosted by documentary filmmaker Nate Lavey, Foreign Agent is a podcast series about the connection between ordinary Irish Americans and a revolutionary socialist guerrilla group. In six episodes, travelling back and forth across the Atlantic over three decades of conflict, Foreign Agent explores how regular Americans became militant advocates for the cause of Irish freedom.
It’s a story of guns smuggled in furniture and wild plots to build homemade missiles. But it’s also about the political and material power that the Irish American community wielded, and how the intoxicating spell of nationalism created a movement out of seemingly irreconcilable social and political positions. And at every step of the way, the US government tried to shut them down. This is the story of the Troubles—as seen through American eyes.
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In the 1970s, the Provisional IRA was in the early days of its armed campaign to end British rule on Ireland. In the United States, a small group of activists began organising on their behalf. They called themselves the Irish Northern Aid Committee, or Noraid—and they were looking for a fight.
Hosted by documentary filmmaker Nate Lavey, Foreign Agent is a podcast series about the connection between ordinary Irish Americans and a revolutionary socialist guerrilla group. In six episodes, travelling back and forth across the Atlantic over three decades of conflict, Foreign Agent explores how regular Americans became militant advocates for the cause of Irish freedom.
It’s a story of guns smuggled in furniture and wild plots to build homemade missiles. But it’s also about the political and material power that the Irish American community wielded, and how the intoxicating spell of nationalism created a movement out of seemingly irreconcilable social and political positions. And at every step of the way, the US government tried to shut them down. This is the story of the Troubles—as seen through American eyes.
After Bloody Sunday in 1972, Irish Northern Aid saw its power, influence and donations increase dramatically — but a higher profile brought new enemies. Secretly, the Federal Bureau of Investigation turned its sights on Noraid: auditing their books, cultivating informers and staking out meetings. On the public stage, Irish American politicians like Ted Kennedy, who […]
Foreign Agent: The IRA’s American connection
In the 1970s, the Provisional IRA was in the early days of its armed campaign to end British rule on Ireland. In the United States, a small group of activists began organising on their behalf. They called themselves the Irish Northern Aid Committee, or Noraid—and they were looking for a fight.
Hosted by documentary filmmaker Nate Lavey, Foreign Agent is a podcast series about the connection between ordinary Irish Americans and a revolutionary socialist guerrilla group. In six episodes, travelling back and forth across the Atlantic over three decades of conflict, Foreign Agent explores how regular Americans became militant advocates for the cause of Irish freedom.
It’s a story of guns smuggled in furniture and wild plots to build homemade missiles. But it’s also about the political and material power that the Irish American community wielded, and how the intoxicating spell of nationalism created a movement out of seemingly irreconcilable social and political positions. And at every step of the way, the US government tried to shut them down. This is the story of the Troubles—as seen through American eyes.
