A Tremendous Motivating Factor’: Irish Northern Aid and the ‘Belfast March Tour

The ‘Belfast March Tour’, an annual tour of Irish-Americans to Northern Ireland, began in 1983 and was a joint endeavour between Sinn Féin and Irish Northern Aid (INA, or ‘Noraid’). The latter was founded in 1970, mostly by veterans of the Irish War of Independence, and became the chief supporter in the USA of the Republican Movement in Ireland, providing financial welfare to families of Republican prisoners. The 1981 hunger strikes resulted in an influx of new, American-born activists that precipitated the need to tackle accusations that INA was simply full of ‘misguided Irish-Americans’. In describing the ‘Belfast March Tour’, this article aims to demonstrate its importance in advertising the conflict to an Irish-American community many of whom had never visited Ireland. According to key members such as former national publicity director Martin Galvin, the tours formed an important component of INA’s fundraising and publicity strategy.