During the Battle of the Bogside in 1969 (one of many Catholic-Protestant riots in Northern Ireland), the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland, Jack Lynch, made a televised address, where he said that his country could no longer stand by and watch as innocents were hurt "or worse."
Unbelievable as it sounds, Lynch actually ordered General Sean Mac Eoin, Chief of Staff of the Irish Army, to plan for possible intervention in Northern Ireland to protect the Catholic minority there. The Irish general staff came up with a plan codenamed "Exercise Armageddon," which was declassified in 2004, for military intervention in Northern Ireland.
Specially-trained Irish commandos would infiltrate Northern Ireland and launch guerilla-style attacks on Belfast airport, the Belfast docks, the BBC studios and key industries. The campaign would be centered in the northwest, which would draw security forces away from the south, where the rioting was taking place. The Irish Army would then invade with four brigades operating in company-strength units and occupy the Catholic areas of Derry and Newry, while Irish armor conducted lightning strikes on security forces in the area. Irish forces would then dig in for a protracted defense against British encirclement.
The planners stated that any military option would be unsound, and that Ireland would be exposed to punitive retaliatory action by British forces. The 2009 RTE documentary "If Lynch had Invaded" predicts that the Irish would have been shredded on the battlefield.
So what do you think would have happened? How would events have transpired if Lynch had ordered Operation Armageddon launched? What would be the military, political, and economic implications?