X-Trot Foxray: ‘An acceptable level of violence

By the 1980s the Troubles in Northern Ireland had become a sophisticated conflict between two immovable objects: the security forces and the terrorists. With no end in sight and no compromise possible, it was decided that an ‘acceptable level of violence’ was the only attainable status quo. This is the story of the operations conducted by one eight-man section under the control of their corporal, and the challenges they faced. Years later, when one of those eight succumbs to his demons and takes his own life, the author recalls the events of his tour of duty in the province and its impact on lives - his own, those of his section, and those of the civilians from all sides of the conflict.