Drawing on a series of interviews with prominent activists from Northern Ireland’s 1968, this paper explores the tensions that lie behind how radical pasts have been framed in this specific national context. Given Northern Ireland’s exceptional post-1968 trajectory that saw the onset of the ‘Troubles’, it will be argued that activists sought to professionalize their radicalism as a mechanism through which they were able to distance their activities from the violence that ensued. The testimonies under examination reveal divergent trajectories including, human rights activism, cross-community work, non-violent political action and civic politics. The fact that such professionalization is so common and so evidently emphasised suggests an effort (conscious or not) by those involved to dissociate themselves as much as possible from the tragic period that followed. The paper will conclude by examining the impact of such narratives in shaping the collective memory of this period.
