Well it was in World War Two my father fought in the British Army, years after his active IRA times, but the same would have been true 20 years earlier. For example, Tom Barry, who commanded the Third Cork Brigade of the IRA, and wrote a famous book called Guerrilla Day in Ireland, was a sergeant in the British Army in Mesopotamia during the war. (Southern Iraq, that would be. Not much changes, apart from the names of the countries) His army training came in handy for fighting the British Army later.

And I wasn't particularly suggesting you started up an Irish history thread, Jim, or Keith for that matter. But there's bound to be one up and running before long, so that would perhaps be a better place to discuss these matters.
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But getting back to domestic politics. I was looking just now at an interview Jeremy Corbyn gave with the alternative media group novara media. He is remarkably leve-headed and calm, and impressive in a way that I don't think I can remember another politician iin a long time. It's on YouTube.