The term IRA is not mentioned?
Why not?
shareBecause it's not a story about the violence. It's from a child's point of view, mostly, and he doesn't know about all that. We know the horrible man with the dark hair and eyes is probably IRA, but this story is about how a family personally dealt with that time period, but didn't experience deadly violence in their own family and were able to keep love and joy alive. This is why many loved the movie.
shareNot quite. The guy that was after buddy’s dad was a Protestant. The film depicts the start of the troubles when some sections of the Protestant community were attacking Catholics .
Wilson (PM) sent the army in to “police” and support/protect the Catholic minority, a move that ultimately backfired.
Yes, IRA are pro-Catholic. The scary guy and his sidekick were Protestant Unionists.
Also, the old IRA was revived as a consequence and reaction to the August 1969 riots. So it would have been an anachronism if the family was talking about the IRA before they became active and newsworthy again.