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The Flagstaff hill incident was an international incident between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. It took place on the night of 5/6 May 1976 near Cornamucklagh, County Louth, Republic of Ireland, when the Irish Army and Garda Síochána arrested eight British Special Air Service soldiers who had illegally crossed the Irish border. ==Background== The worsening security situation in south County Armagh, especially after the killing of three British soldiers at an observation post in November 1975 and the massacre of ten Protestant workers in January 1976, prompted British PM Harold Wilson to publicly acknowledge the presence of D squadron of the Special Air Service (SAS), which was deployed to Bessbrook Mill.〔Harnden, p. 158〕 The ambush of the observation post exposed the fact that conventional military tactics hadn't worked for the British in South Armagh, since the British Army report of this incident identified a number of basic mistakes regarding camouflage, routine patterns and the observation post's arrangement.〔Harnden, p. 159〕 On 28 October 1971, a major confrontation took place between British and Irish troops at a cross-border bridge between the Republic and Northern Ireland, at the village of Munnelly, between counties Fermanagh and Monaghan. A British patrol was laying explosive charges to destroy the bridge, as part of an effort to destroy bridges and roads being used by the Provisional IRA to import arms and supplies. A Garda Síochána officer stated that the bridge was at least half in the Republic, and the British commanding officer disputed this. The Irish Army then deployed a unit of soldiers armed with H&K MP5 submachine guns, and the Irish commander demanded that the British surrender their explosives. Following a 90-minute standoff, the British withdrew.〔(Irish, British in confrontation ) United Press International, 28 October 1971〕〔(British, Irish in Border Confrontation ), Associated Press, 28 October 1971〕〔Talón, Vicente (1972). ''Guerra en Irlanda''. Ed. San Martín, p. 37. OCLC: 40663502 〕 The first high-profile action carried out by the SAS in 1976 was in March when it abducted Sean McKenna, an IRA volunteer wanted for attempted murder and a string of other offences. McKenna was abducted at 2:30 am while sleeping at home in Edentober, on the Republic's side of the border, in a cross-border raid by the SAS. Once across the border, he was officially arrested by regular soldiers. In April, the SAS killed IRA member Peter Cleary in controversial circumstances near Forkhill, just 60 yards inside Northern Ireland.〔Harnden, pp. 161–163〕 Although the porous nature of the border had led to 189 inadvertent border crossings by the British security forces in the past two years, these latest incursions put the Garda Síochána on alert.〔Harnden, p. 164〕 Another worry for the Irish government was the activity of loyalist death squads in the area, one of which had kidnapped and killed a civilian named Seamus Ludlow near Dundalk four days before.〔("Night Gardai and Army arrested eight armed SAS men in Omeath" ) by Kevin Mulligan. The Argus, Dundalk, 3 May 2006〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Flagstaff hill incident」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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