The beatings will continue until morale improves

Way back in 1996, after the ceasefire in the North, a programme was shown on Channel 4 called Baseball in Irish History. The title was highly ironic, because baseball had played very little part in Irish history and, in 1996, not many people were pla

Going batty: Above The Law (RTE One) looked at the issue of punishment beatings in the North

During the Troubles, armed groups on both sides, the IRA, the UVF, the UFF and the UDA, were often asked by local people to deal with troublemakers, many of whom were ...