Provisional Irish Republican Army (Óglaigh na hÉireann)
Participant in The Troubles
A Republican mural in Belfast depicting the hunger strikes of 1981. Belfast ( is the capital city of Northern Ireland and the seat of government in Northern Ireland. The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland.
Active	1969 - present
Leaders	IRA Army Council
Strength	~10,000 over 30 years, ~1,000 in 2002, of which ~300 in active service units [1]
Originated as	Irish Republican Army
Opponents	United Kingdom

The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Irish: Óglaigh na hÉireann) (IRA; also referred to as the PIRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the Army or the 'RA. The IRA Army Council is the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA a Paramilitary group dedicated to bringing This article deals with the Irish republican organisation opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty styling itself "Irish Republican Army" as it existed from the time of the Treaty The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. ^[2]) is a left-wing^[3] Irish republican paramilitary organisation that, until the Belfast Agreement, sought to end Northern Ireland's status within the United Kingdom and bring about a United Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion. Irish republicanism (Poblachtánachas is an ideology based on the Irish nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a single independent Republic A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force but which are not regarded as having the same status The Agreement, most often referred to as the Belfast Agreement (Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste Belfast Greeance or the Good Friday Agreement (Comhaontú Aoine an Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A United Ireland is the term used to refer to a sovereign state encompassing the whole of the island of Ireland. Since its emergence in 1969, its stated aim has been the overthrow of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and their replacement by a sovereign socialist all-island Irish state. Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution ^[4] The organisation is classified as a proscribed terrorist group in the United Kingdom and as an illegal organisation in the Republic of Ireland. Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion ^[5][6]

The IRA sees itself as a direct continuation of the Irish Republican Army (the army of the Irish Republic — 1919–1921) that fought in the Irish War of Independence. The Irish Republican Army ( IRA) (Óglaigh na hÉireann was a military organisation descended from the Irish Volunteers, established 25 November 1913 and who The Irish Republic ( Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann or Saorstát Éireann) was a unilaterally declared independent state of Ireland proclaimed The Irish War of Independence (or Tan War, or Anglo-Irish War, Irish: Cogadh na Saoirse) from January 1919 to July 1921 was a guerrilla Like all other organisations calling themselves the IRA (see List of IRAs), the Provisionals refer to themselves in public announcements and internal discussions as Óglaigh na hÉireann ("The Irish Volunteers"), which is also the Irish language title of the Irish Defence Forces (the Irish army). The IRA ( Irish Republican Army) is a name used to describe several paramilitary movements in Ireland in the 20th and 21st centuries though the first known use of Óglaigh na hÉireann ( old orthography Óglaiġ na h-Éireann, ˈoːgɫ̪iː n̪ˠə ˈheːɾʲən̪ˠ) is the Irish language title used by various Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. Óglaigh na hÉireann the Irish Defence Forces encompass the Army, Navy, air corps and reserve forces of Ireland.

On 28 July 2005, the IRA Army Council announced an end to its armed campaign, stating that it would work to achieve its aims using "purely political and democratic programmes through exclusively peaceful means" and that IRA "Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever". Events 1540 - Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of Treason. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The IRA Army Council is the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA a Paramilitary group dedicated to bringing Volunteer, often abbreviated Vol, is a term used by a number of Irish republican Paramilitary organisations to describe their members ^[7]

An internal British Army document released in 2007 stated that the British Army had failed to defeat the IRA by force of arms but also claims to have 'shown the IRA that it could not achieve its ends through violence'. The military assessment describes the IRA as 'professional, dedicated, highly skilled and resilient'. ^[8]

Origins

1969 split in the IRA

Irish Political History series

Republicanism

Republicanism

– in Ireland – in Northern Ireland Irish republican legitimatism Physical force republicanism See also List of IRAs for organisations claiming that name. Irish republicanism (Poblachtánachas is an ideology based on the Irish nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a single independent Republic In 1921 Ireland was partitioned Most of the country became part of the independent Irish Free State. A principle within Irish republicanism, the concept of Irish republican legitimatism denies the legitimacy of the political entities of Republic of Ireland and Physical force Irish republicanism is a term used to describe the recurring appearance of non-parliamentary violent insurrection in Ireland between 1798 and the present The IRA ( Irish Republican Army) is a name used to describe several paramilitary movements in Ireland in the 20th and 21st centuries though the first known use of

Key documents

Proclamation of the Republic Declaration of Independence Message to Free Nations Democratic Programme Dáil Constitution Anglo-Irish Treaty External Relations Act 1936 Constitution of Ireland Republic of Ireland Act 1948 The Green Book New Ireland Forum Report Anglo-Irish Agreement Belfast Agreement Articles 2 & 3

Parties & Organisations

Aontacht Éireann Clan na Gael Clann na Poblachta Communist Party of Ireland Cumann na mBan Cumann na Poblachta Cumann Poblachta nahÉ Córas na Poblachta éirígí Fianna Éireann Fianna Fáil · Ind FF Irish Citizen Army Irish National Invincibles INLA Irish Republican Army Anti-Treaty IRA Continuity IRA Official IRA Provisional IRA Real IRA IRB · ISRP · IRSP Official Sinn Féin Red Republican Party Republican Congress Republican Sinn Féin Saor Éire Sinn Féin United Irishmen Workers Party Young Ireland 32CSM See also: Party youth wings

Publications

An Phoblacht · Daily Ireland Irish Press · Sunday Press Republican News · Saoirse The Nation· United Irishman Wolfe Tone Weekly

Strategies

Abstentionism Éire Nua Armed Struggle Armalite and Ballot Box TUAS

Symbols

The Tricolour · Easter Lily

Other movements

Loyalism {{IrishL}} Monarchism {{IrishM}} Nationalism {{IrishN}} Unionism {{IrishU}}

v • d • e

According to modern physical force Irish republicanism theory, the two Irish governmental entities which have existed in Ireland since 1922, Northern Ireland and the state variously known at different times as the Irish Free State and the Republic of Ireland, were illegitimate, as they had been imposed by the British at the time of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, in defiance of the last all-Ireland election in 1918, when the majority had voted for full independence. The Proclamation of the Republic, also known as the 1916 Proclamation or Easter Proclamation, was a document issued by the Irish Volunteers and Irish The Declaration of Independence (Forógra na Saoirse Déclaration d'Indépendance was a document adopted by Dáil Éireann, the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed In 1919 the First Dáil of the Irish Republic issued a Message to the Free Nations of the World (Scéal Ó Dháil Éireann Chum Saor-Náisiún an Domhain Appel aux The Democratic Programme was a declaration of economic and social principles adopted by the First Dáil at its first meeting on 21 January 1919 The Constitution of Dáil Éireann (Bunreacht Dála Éireann was the constitution of the 1919–22 Irish Republic. The Anglo-Irish Treaty (An Conradh Angla-Éireannach officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a Treaty The Executive Authority (External Relations Act 1936 was an enactment of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament in 1936. The Constitution of Ireland (Bunreacht na hÉireann came into force on 29 December 1937 after having been passed by a national plebiscite the previous July The Republic of Ireland Act 1948 is an Act of the Oireachtas whose primary provisions were to declare that the state Ireland, is a Republic and that the President The IRA Green Book is a training and induction manual issued by the Irish Republican Army to new volunteers The New Ireland Forum was established in Ireland in May 1983 by then Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald to discuss ways of bringing peace and stability to the The Anglo-Irish Agreement was an agreement between the United Kingdom and Ireland which aimed to bring an end to The Troubles in Northern Ireland The Agreement, most often referred to as the Belfast Agreement (Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste Belfast Greeance or the Good Friday Agreement (Comhaontú Aoine an Article 2 and Article 3 of the Constitution of Ireland ( Bunreacht na hÉireann) were adopted with the constitution as a whole on 29 December 1937 but completely For the Celtic Rock band formerly known as Clan na Gael see Seven Nations. Clann na Poblachta n̪ˠə pʷɔbʷłəxt̪ˠə (Family of the Republic was an Irish republican political party founded by former Irish Republican Army Chief of The Communist Party of Ireland ( CPI; Irish: Páirtí Cumannach na hÉireann) is a small all-Ireland Marxist party founded in 1933 Cumann na mBan (ˈkumˠən̪ˠ n̪ˠə mˠɒn̪ˠ Women's League is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on April 1914 as an auxiliary Cumann na Poblachta n̪ˠə pʷɔbʷłəxt̪ˠə ( League of the Republic in English) was an Irish republican political party Cumann Poblachta na hÉireann pʷɔbʷłəxt̪ˠə n̪ˠə heːɼən̪ˠ Society of Ireland" was a political party established by the Irish Republican Army in 1936 Córas na Poblachta n̪ˠə pʷɔbʷłəxt̪ˠə ( Republican Plan in English) was a minor Irish republican political party founded in 1940 The name Fianna Éireann (ˈfʲiənə ˈeːɾʲən) also rendered as Fianna na hÉireann and Na Fianna Éireann ( Irish: " Soldiery of Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach shortened to Fianna Fáil ( is currently the largest Political party in the Independent Fianna Fáil (Fianna Fáil Neamhspleách was a splinter republican party created by Neil Blaney after his expulsion from Fianna Fáil following the Irish The Irish Citizen Army ( Irish name: Arm Cathartha na hÉireann) or ICA was a small group of trained Trade union volunteers established in Dublin The Irish National Invincibles (Dosháraithe Náisiúnta na hÉireann usually known as "the Invincibles" were a radical IRB splinter group active in Dublin The Irish National Liberation Army ( INLA; Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann in Irish is an Irish Republican, Left-wing paramilitary organisation The Irish Republican Army ( IRA) (Óglaigh na hÉireann was a military organisation descended from the Irish Volunteers, established 25 November 1913 and who This article deals with the Irish republican organisation opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty styling itself "Irish Republican Army" as it existed from the time of the Treaty The Continuity Irish Republican Army ( CIRA) is an Irish republican Paramilitary organisation that emerged from a split in the Provisional IRA The term Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (informally the Officials) refers to one of the two organisations&mdashthe other being the Provisional The Real Irish Republican Army, otherwise known as the Real IRA (RIRA or True IRA and styling itself as Óglaigh na hÉireann (Volunteers The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic Republic" in the mid nineteenth The Irish Socialist Republican Party was a pivotal Irish political party founded in 1896 by James Connolly. The Irish Republican Socialist Party ( IRSP) is an republican Socialist party meaning that it is both Marxist and republican Official Sinn Féin (later renamed "Sinn Féin the Workers Party" was a Marxist Irish republican Political party which evolved from the split The Red Republican Party was a small Socialist organisation in Ireland. The Republican Congress was an Irish Republican political organisation founded in 1934 when left wing republicans left the Irish Republican Army. Republican Sinn Féin ( RSF; Irish: Sinn Féin Poblachtach) is a Political party operating in Ireland. For the paramilitary group of the 1960s and 1970s see Saor Éire (1967-1975. Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 The Society of United Irishmen was founded as a Liberal political organisation in eighteenth century Ireland that sought Parliamentary reform The Workers Party of Ireland (in Irish Páirtí na nOibrithe, though its logo translates it erroneously as Páirtí na nOibri) is a left wing Irish Young Ireland ( Irish: Éire Óg) was a political cultural and social movement which was to revolutionise the way that Irish nationalism was perceived History The organisation was founded on 7 December 1997 at a meeting in Fingal in Dublin by republican activists who were opposed to the direction An Phoblacht ( Irish for "The Republic" is the official Newspaper of Sinn Féin Daily Ireland was an Irish daily newspaper which existed from January 2005 to September 2006 to cover news stories from an Irish republican viewpoint The Irish Press was an Irish Newspaper published by Irish Press plc between September 5 1931, on the eve of the 1931 Kilkenny v Cork The Sunday Press was a weekly newspaper published in Ireland from 1949 until 1995. Republican News was a longstanding newspaper/magazine published by Sinn Féin. SAOIRSE Irish Freedom is the monthly organ of Republican Sinn Féin. The Nation was an Irish nationalist weekly Newspaper, published in the 19th century The United Irishman title has been a very popular newspaper title in Ireland and a number of newspapers have been published under the title Abstentionism is standing for Election to a Deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business Éire Nua, or "New Ireland" was a political strategy of the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin during the 1970s and early 1980s Physical force Irish republicanism is a term used to describe the recurring appearance of non-parliamentary violent insurrection in Ireland between 1798 and the present The Armalite and the ballot box strategy was a strategy pursued by the Irish republican movement in the 1980s and early 1990s in which elections in Northern Ireland Tuas is largely an industrial zone located in the western part of Singapore. The Easter Lily is a Badge worn at Easter by Irish republicans as symbol of remembrance for Irish combatants who died during or were executed after the Ulster loyalism is a militant unionist ideology held mostly by Protestants in Northern Ireland. The King was the Head of state of the 1922–1937 Irish Free State. Irish nationalism (Náisiúnachas Éireannach refers to political and sociological movements and sentiment that embodies a love for Irish ancestry, culture and language and Unionism in Ireland, is a belief in the desirability of a full constitutional and institutional relationship between Ireland and Great Britain based on the terms and Physical force Irish republicanism is a term used to describe the recurring appearance of non-parliamentary violent insurrection in Ireland between 1798 and the present The Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann (1922&ndash1937 was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by In Common law, legitimacy is the status of a Child that is born to parents who are legally married to one another or that is born shortly after the The Anglo-Irish Treaty (An Conradh Angla-Éireannach officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a Treaty The real Irish state was the Irish Republic, unilaterally declared in 1919 and which, according to republican theory, was still in existence. The Irish Republic ( Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann or Saorstát Éireann) was a unilaterally declared independent state of Ireland proclaimed The Declaration of Independence (Forógra na Saoirse Déclaration d'Indépendance was a document adopted by Dáil Éireann, the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed According to this theory, the modern day Provisional Irish Republican Army is merely the continuation of the original Irish Republican Army which served as the army of the Irish Republic during the Irish War of Independence. The Irish Republican Army ( IRA) (Óglaigh na hÉireann was a military organisation descended from the Irish Volunteers, established 25 November 1913 and who The Irish War of Independence (or Tan War, or Anglo-Irish War, Irish: Cogadh na Saoirse) from January 1919 to July 1921 was a guerrilla

While at the time of Treaty and the subsequent Irish Civil War the majority of the "old" IRA held this position, by the 1930s most republicans had accepted the Free State and were willing to work within it - recognising the Irish Army as the state's armed force. The Irish Civil War ( June 28 1922 &ndash May 24 1923) pitted supporters of the Anglo-Irish Treaty against its opponents The Irish Army ( Arm na hÉireann) is the main branch of the Irish Defence Forces ( Óglaigh na hÉireann) However, a minority of republicans argued that the army of the Republic was still the pre-1969 Irish Republican Army, itself the lineal descendant of the defeated faction in the Irish Civil War of 1922-23. This article deals with the Irish republican organisation opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty styling itself "Irish Republican Army" as it existed from the time of the Treaty Moreover, the IRA Army Council was the legitimate government of Ireland until the Irish Republic could be re-established. The IRA Army Council is the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA a Paramilitary group dedicated to bringing This IRA in theory wanted to overthrow both Irish states, but by the late 1940s, it issued orders that "no armed action was to be taken against 26 county forces under any circumstances whatsoever". Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. From then on, they concentrated on the overthrow of Northern Ireland, which was still part of the United Kingdom, but which contained a substantial Catholic and nationalist population. In the 1950s, the IRA waged a largely ineffective guerrilla campaign against Northern Ireland, known as the "Border Campaign". The Border Campaign ( December 12 1956 – February 26 1962) was a campaign of Guerrilla warfare ( codenamed Operation This was called off in 1962.

The IRA split into two groups at its Special Army Convention in December 1969, over the issue of abstentionism (whether to sit in or to "abstain" from the Dáil or parliament of the Republic of Ireland) and over the question of how to respond to the escalating violence in Northern Ireland (see The Troubles). Abstentionism is standing for Election to a Deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business ga '''Dáil Éireann''' ( English House of Representatives of Ireland) is the principal chamber of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament In 1969, serious rioting had broken out in Derry following an Apprentice Boys march. The Apprentice Boys Of Derry are a Protestant fraternal society with a worldwide membership founded in 1814 Subsequently hundreds of Catholic homes were destroyed in Belfast by loyalists in the Northern Ireland riots of August 1969. Belfast ( is the capital city of Northern Ireland and the seat of government in Northern Ireland. Ulster loyalism is a militant unionist ideology held mostly by Protestants in Northern Ireland. From 13- 17 August 1969, Northern Ireland was rocked by intensive Sectarian rioting The IRA had not been armed or organised to defend the Catholic community, as it had done since the 1920s. The two groups that emerged from the split became known as the Official IRA (which espoused a Marxist analysis of Irish partition) and the Provisional IRA. The term Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (informally the Officials) refers to one of the two organisations&mdashthe other being the Provisional Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The Partition of Ireland took place on 3 May 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920.

The Official IRA did not want to get involved in what it considered to be divisive sectarian violence, nor did it want to launch an armed campaign against Northern Ireland, citing the failure of the IRA's Border Campaign in the 1950s. Sectarianism is Bigotry, Discrimination, Prejudice or Hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions The Border Campaign ( December 12 1956 – February 26 1962) was a campaign of Guerrilla warfare ( codenamed Operation They favoured building up a political base among the working class, both Catholic and Protestant, north and south, which would eventually undermine partition. Working class is a term used in academic Sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe depending on context and speaker those employed in specific fields or types This involved recognising and sitting in elected bodies north and south of the border. The Provisionals, by contrast, advocated a robust armed defence of Catholics in the north and an offensive campaign in Northern Ireland to end British rule there. They also denounced the "communist" tendencies of the "Official" faction in favour of traditional Irish republicanism and non-Marxist democratic socialism, and they refused to recognise the legitimacy of either the northern or southern Irish states. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Democratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements tendencies and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation

Foundation of the Provisional IRA

Dáithí Ó Conaill at the 1986 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis. Dáithí Ó Conaill (1938 – 1 January 1991) was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council, vice-president of Sinn Féin

The Provisional IRA had its origins in the "Provisional Army Council" formed in December 1969, when an IRA Convention voted to recognise the Parliaments of Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. Opponents of this change in the IRA Constitution argued strongly against this, and when the vote took place, Sean MacStiofain, present as IRA Director of Intelligence, announced that he no longer considered that the IRA leadership represented Republican goals. Seán Mac Stíofáin ( 17 February 1928 &ndash 18 May 2001) was an Irish republican and first chief of staff of the ^[9] However, there was not a walkout. Those opposed, who include Mac Stiofain and Ruairi O Bradaigh, did refuse to go forward for election to the new IRA Executive. ^[10]

While others organized throughout Ireland, MacStiofain was a key person making a connection with the Belfast IRA, under Billy McKee and Joe Cahill, who had refused to take orders from the IRA's Dublin leadership since September 1969, in protest at their failure to defend Catholic areas in August 1969. Billy McKee ( Liam Mac Aoidh; is an Irish republican and was a founding member and former leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA Joe Cahill ( Seosamh Ó Cathail; 19 May 1920 &ndash 23 July 2004) was a prominent Irish republican and former Nine out of thirteen IRA units in Belfast sided with the Provisionals in 1969, roughly 120 activists and 500 supporters. ^[11] The new group elected a "Provisional Army Council" to head the new IRA. The first Provisional IRA Army Council was: Sean Mac Stiofain, C/S, Ruairi O Bradaigh, Paddy Mulcahy, Sean Tracey, Leo Martin, and Joe Cahill. ^[12] A political wing, Provisional Sinn Féin, was founded on 11 January 1970, when a third of the delegates walked out of the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in protest at the party leadership's attempt to force through the ending of the abstentionist policy, despite its failure to achieve a two-thirds majority vote of delegates required to change the policy. Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 Events 1055 - Theodora is crowned Empress of the Byzantine Empire. Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. An Ardfheis or Ard Fheis ( pronounced ˈɛɕ plural Ardfheiseanna) (Ardfheis is an annual convention or special convention usually of a political party ^[13]

There are allegations that the early Provisional IRA got off the ground due to arms and funding from the Fianna Fáil-led Irish government in 1969. Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach shortened to Fianna Fáil ( is currently the largest Political party in the The Government of Ireland (Rialtas na hÉireann n̪ˠə ˈheːɾʲən̪ˠ is the Cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. This was not found to be the case when investigated in the Arms trial. The Arms Crisis or Arms Trial ( Irish: Géarchéim na nAirm or Triail na nAirm) was a Political scandal in the Republic of Ireland However, roughly £100,000 was donated by the Irish government to "Defense Committees" in Catholic areas and according to historian Richard English, "there is now no doubt that some money did go from the Dublin government to the proto-Provisionals". Richard English is a Historian from Northern Ireland. He was born in Belfast in 1963 ^[14]

The main figures in the early Provisional IRA were Seán Mac Stiofáin (who served as the organisation's first chief of staff), Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (the first president of Provisional Sinn Féin), Dáithí Ó Conaill, and Joe Cahill. Seán Mac Stíofáin ( 17 February 1928 &ndash 18 May 2001) was an Irish republican and first chief of staff of the The following is the list of those who are reported to have served as Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army in the various incarnations of organisations bearing that name Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (born 2 October 1932 is an Irish republican. Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 Dáithí Ó Conaill (1938 – 1 January 1991) was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council, vice-president of Sinn Féin Joe Cahill ( Seosamh Ó Cathail; 19 May 1920 &ndash 23 July 2004) was a prominent Irish republican and former All served on the first Provisional IRA Army Council. ^[15] The Provisional appellation deliberately echoed the "Provisional Government" proclaimed during the 1916 Easter Rising. The Proclamation of the Republic, also known as the 1916 Proclamation or Easter Proclamation, was a document issued by the Irish Volunteers and Irish The Easter Rising (Éirí Amach na Cásca was a rebellion staged in Ireland in Easter Week, 1916 ^[16]

The Provisionals maintained a number of the principles of the pre-1969 IRA. It considered British rule in Northern Ireland and the government of the Republic of Ireland to be illegitimate. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Like the pre-1969 IRA, it believed that the IRA Army Council was the legitimate government of the all-island Irish Republic. The Irish Republic ( Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann or Saorstát Éireann) was a unilaterally declared independent state of Ireland proclaimed This belief was based on a complicated series of perceived political inheritances which constructed a legal continuity from the Second Dáil. The Second Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. Most of these abstentionist principles were abandoned in 1986, although Sinn Féin still refuses to take its seats in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories ^[17][18]

As the violence in Northern Ireland steadily increased, both the Official IRA and Provisional IRA espoused military means to pursue their goals. Unlike the Officials, however, who characterised their violence as purely "defensive," the Provisionals called for a more aggressive campaign against the Northern Ireland state. While the Officials were initially, for a short period, the larger organisation and enjoyed more support from the republican community, the Provisionals came to dominate, especially after the Official IRA declared an indefinite ceasefire in 1972. The Provisionals inherited most of the existing IRA organisation in the north by 1971 and the more militant IRA members in the rest of Ireland. In addition they recruited many young nationalists from the north, who had not been involved in the IRA before, but had been radicalised by the communal violence that broke out in 1969. These people were known in republican parlance as "sixty niners", having joined after 1969. ^[19]

Although the Provisional IRA had a political wing, Provisional Sinn Féin, which split with Official Sinn Féin at the same time as the split in the IRA, the early Provisional IRA was extremely suspicious of political activity, arguing rather for the primacy of armed struggle. Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 Official Sinn Féin (later renamed "Sinn Féin the Workers Party" was a Marxist Irish republican Political party which evolved from the split ^[20]

Organisation

The IRA is organised hierarchically. At the top of the organisation is the IRA Army Council, headed by the IRA Chief of Staff. The IRA Army Council is the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA a Paramilitary group dedicated to bringing The following is the list of those who are reported to have served as Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army in the various incarnations of organisations bearing that name

Leadership

All levels of the IRA are entitled to send delegates to IRA General Army Conventions (GACs). The GAC is the IRA's supreme decision-making authority. Before 1969, GACs met regularly. Since 1969 there have only been two, in 1970 and 1986, owing to the difficulty in organising such a large secret gathering of what is an illegal organisation. ^[21][22]

The GAC in turn elects a 12-member IRA Executive, which in turn selects seven volunteers to form the IRA Army Council. ^[21] For day-to-day purposes authority is vested in the Army Council which, as well as directing policy and taking major tactical decisions, appoints a Chief of Staff from one of its number or, less commonly, from outside its ranks. ^[23]

The chief of staff then appoints an adjutant general as well as a General Headquarters (GHQ), which consists of a number of individual departments. These departments are:

• IRA Quartermaster General
• IRA Director of Finance
• IRA Director of Engineering
• IRA Director of Training
• IRA Director of Intelligence
• IRA Director of Publicity
• IRA Director of Operations
• IRA Director of Security

Regional command

At a regional level, the IRA is divided into a Northern Command, which operates in the nine Ulster counties as well as County Leitrim and County Louth, and a Southern Command, operating in the rest of Ireland. The IRA Quartermaster General (QMG runs a department which is responsible for obtaining concealing and maintaining the store of weaponry of the Irish Republican Army. County Leitrim ( is one of the counties of Ireland and is part of the province of Connacht. County Louth (Contae Lú is a County on the East coast of Ireland, on the border with Northern Ireland. The Provisional IRA was originally commanded by a leadership based in Dublin. Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. However, in 1977, parallel to the introduction of cell structures at local level, command of the "war-zone" was given to the Northern Command. These moves at reorganisation were, according to Ed Moloney the idea of Ivor Bell, Gerry Adams and Brian Keenan. Ed Moloney (born Edmund is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of The Troubles in Northern Ireland and particularly the activities Ivor Malachy Bell is an Irish Republican, and a former volunteer in the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA who later Gerry Adams, MLA, MP (Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh born 6 October 1948 is an Irish Republican politician and abstentionist Westminster Brian Keenan (1942 &ndash 21 May 2008) was a former member of the Army Council of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA who received an ^[24]

Brigades

The IRA refers to its ordinary members as volunteers (or óglaigh in Irish). Volunteer, often abbreviated Vol, is a term used by a number of Irish republican Paramilitary organisations to describe their members Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. Up until the late 1970s, IRA volunteers were organised in units based on conventional military structures. Volunteers living in one area formed a company, which in turn was part of a battalion, which could be part of a brigade, although many battalions were not attached to a brigade. A company is a Military unit, typically consisting of 75-200 Soldiers Most companies are formed of three to five Platoons although the exact number may vary A battalion is a Military unit of around 500-1500 men usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel A brigade is a Military unit Echelon: is

For most of its existence, the IRA had five Brigade areas within what it referred to as the "war-zone". These Brigades were located in Belfast, Derry, Tyrone/Monaghan and Armagh. ^[25] The Belfast Brigade had three battalions, respectively in the west, north and east of the city. The Belfast Brigade of the Provisional IRA was the largest of the organisation's command areas based in the city of Belfast. In the early years of the Troubles, the IRA in Belfast expanded rapidly. In August 1969, the Belfast Brigade had just 50 active members. By the end of 1971, it had 1,200 members, giving it a large but loosely controlled structure. ^[26] Derry city had one battalion and the South Derry Brigade. The Derry Battalion became the Derry Brigade in 1972 after a rapid increase in membership following Bloody Sunday when British paratroopers killed 14 unarmed demonstrators at a civil rights march. Bloody Sunday (Domhnach na Fola is the term used to describe an incident in Derry, Northern Ireland, on 30 January 1972 in which 26 County Armagh had three battalions, two very active ones in South Armagh and a less active unit in North Armagh. For this reason the Armagh IRA unit is often referred to as the South Armagh Brigade. The South Armagh Brigade was a brigade within the Provisional Irish Republican Army which operated during The Troubles in south County Armagh, a predominantly Similarly, the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade, which operated from around the Border, is often called the East Tyrone Brigade. The East Tyrone Brigade, Briogáid Thír Eoghain Thoir, of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA was one of the most active republican paramilitary Fermanagh, South Down, North Antrim had units not attached to Brigades. ^[27] The leadership structure at battalion and company level was the same: each had its own commanding officer, quartermaster, explosives officer and intelligence officer. There was sometimes a training officer or finance officer.

Active Service Units

In 1977, the IRA moved away from the larger conventional military organisational principle owing to its perceived security vulnerability. In place of the battalion structures, a system of two parallel types of unit within an IRA Brigade was introduced. Firstly, the old "company" structures were used for tasks such as "policing" nationalist areas, intelligence gathering, and hiding weapons. These were essential support activities. However, the bulk of actual attacks were the responsibility of a second type of unit, the Active Service Unit (ASU). An Active Service Unit (ASU was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA cell of five to eight members tasked with carrying out armed attacks To improve security and operational capacity these ASUs were smaller, tight-knit cells, usually consisting of 5-8 members, for carrying out armed attacks. The ASU's weapons were controlled by a quartermaster under the direct control of the IRA leadership. Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations In land armies it is a term referring to a military individual or unit who specializes in supplying and provisioning troops ^[28] By the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was estimated that the IRA had roughly 300 members in ASUs and another 450 or so others serving in supporting roles. ^[29]

The exception to this reorganisation was the South Armagh Brigade which retained its traditional hierarchy and battalion structure and used relatively large numbers of volunteers in its actions. The South Armagh Brigade was a brigade within the Provisional Irish Republican Army which operated during The Troubles in south County Armagh, a predominantly ^[30]

The IRA's Southern Command, located in the Republic of Ireland, consists of a Dublin Brigade and a number of smaller units in rural areas. These were charged mainly with the importation and storage of arms for the Northern units and with raising finance through robberies and other means. ^[31]

Strategy 1969–1998

See also: Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997

"Escalation, escalation and escalation"

In the early years of the Troubles, the Provisional IRA's strategy was to use as much force as possible to cause the collapse of the Northern Ireland administration and to inflict enough casualties on the British forces that the British government would be forced by public opinion to withdraw from Ireland. From 1969 until 1997 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA conducted an armed Paramilitary campaign in the United Kingdom, aimed at ending British A policy described by Sean MacStiofain as "escalation, escalation and escalation". This was modelled on the success of the Irish Republican Army in the Irish War of Independence 1919–1922 and was articulated in slogans such as "Victory 1972". The Irish Republican Army ( IRA) (Óglaigh na hÉireann was a military organisation descended from the Irish Volunteers, established 25 November 1913 and who The Irish War of Independence (or Tan War, or Anglo-Irish War, Irish: Cogadh na Saoirse) from January 1919 to July 1921 was a guerrilla However, this policy failed to take into account the strong unionist commitment to remain within the United Kingdom and the risk that an armed campaign would result not in a united Ireland, but in a sectarian civil war. Unionism in Ireland, is a belief in the desirability of a full constitutional and institutional relationship between Ireland and Great Britain based on the terms and A United Ireland is the term used to refer to a sovereign state encompassing the whole of the island of Ireland.

At the time of the Irish War of Independence in the 1920s, IRA actions in the north had been responded to with widespread random attacks on Catholic nationalists by loyalists. The IRA Border campaign in the 1950s had avoided actions in urban centres of Northern Ireland to avoid provoking retaliatory attacks on the Catholic/nationalist community there. The Border Campaign ( December 12 1956 – February 26 1962) was a campaign of Guerrilla warfare ( codenamed Operation The Provisional IRA's determination to carry out such a campaign and risk escalating sectarian violence was one of the principal areas of disagreement between the Provisional and Official IRAs.

The British government held secret talks with the IRA leadership in 1972 to try and secure a ceasefire based on a compromise settlement within Northern Ireland after the events of Bloody Sunday when IRA recruitment and support increased. Bloody Sunday (Domhnach na Fola is the term used to describe an incident in Derry, Northern Ireland, on 30 January 1972 in which 26 The IRA agreed to a temporary ceasefire from 26 June to 9 July. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. Events 455 - Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. In July 1972, IRA leaders Seán Mac Stíofáin, Dáithí Ó Conaill, Ivor Bell, Seamus Twomey, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness met a British delegation led by William Whitelaw. Seán Mac Stíofáin ( 17 February 1928 &ndash 18 May 2001) was an Irish republican and first chief of staff of the Dáithí Ó Conaill (1938 – 1 January 1991) was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council, vice-president of Sinn Féin Ivor Malachy Bell is an Irish Republican, and a former volunteer in the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA who later Seamus Twomey ( 5 November 1919 &ndash 12 September 1989) was an Irish republican and twice chief of staff of the Gerry Adams, MLA, MP (Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh born 6 October 1948 is an Irish Republican politician and abstentionist Westminster James Martin Pacelli McGuinness (Máirtín Mag Aonghusa born in Derry on 23 May 1950 is the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. William Stephen Ian Whitelaw 1st Viscount Whitelaw, KT, CH, MC, PC, DL (28 June 1918 &ndash 1 July 1999 commonly known as The IRA leaders refused to consider a peace settlement that did not include a commitment to British withdrawal, a retreat of the British Army to barracks and a release of republican prisoners. The British refused and the talks broke up. ^[32]

Éire Nua and the 1975 ceasefire

The Provisionals' ultimate goal in this period was the abolition of both the Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland states and their replacement with a new all-Ireland federal republic, with decentralised governments and parliaments for each of the four Irish historic provinces. A federation ( Latin: foedus, covenant is a union comprising a number of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central ("federal" This programme was known as Éire Nua - "New Ireland". Éire Nua, or "New Ireland" was a political strategy of the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin during the 1970s and early 1980s The Éire Nua programme was discarded by the Provisionals under the leadership of Gerry Adams in the early 1980s in favour of the pursuit of a new unitary all-Ireland Republic. A unitary state is a State whose three Organs of state are governed Constitutionally as one single unit with one Constitutionally created

By the mid 1970s, it was clear that the hopes of the IRA leadership for a quick military victory were receding. In addition, the British military was equally unsure of when it would begin to see any substantial success against the IRA. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Secret meetings between Provisional IRA leaders Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and Billy McKee with British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Merlyn Rees secured an IRA ceasefire from February 1975 until January of the next year. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (born 2 October 1932 is an Irish republican. Billy McKee ( Liam Mac Aoidh; is an Irish republican and was a founding member and former leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is the chief minister in the Government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland Merlyn Rees, later Merlyn Merlyn-Rees Baron Merlyn-Rees, PC ( 18 December 1920 &ndash 5 January 2006) was a The IRA initially believed that this was the start of a long term process of British withdrawal, but came to the conclusion that Rees was trying to bring the Provisionals into peaceful politics without giving them any guarantees. ^[33] Critics of the IRA leadership, most notably Gerry Adams, felt that the ceasefire was disastrous for the IRA, leading to infiltration by British informers, the arrest of many activists and a breakdown in IRA discipline - leading to sectarian killings and a feud with fellow republicans in the Official IRA. From 1969 until 1997 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA conducted an armed Paramilitary campaign in the United Kingdom, aimed at ending British The term Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (informally the Officials) refers to one of the two organisations&mdashthe other being the Provisional The ceasefire broke down in January 1976. ^[34]

The "Long War"

IRA political poster from the 1980s.

Thereafter, the IRA, under the leadership of Adams and his supporters, evolved a new strategy termed the "Long War", which underpinned IRA strategy for the rest of the Troubles. It involved a re-organisation of the IRA into small cells, an acceptance that their campaign would last many years before being successful and an increased emphasis on political activity through the Sinn Féin party. Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 A republican document of the early 1980s states, "Both Sinn Féin and the IRA play different but converging roles in the war of national liberation. The Irish Republican Army wages an armed campaign. . . Sinn Féin maintains the propaganda war and is the public and political voice of the movement". ^[35] The 1977 edition of the Green Book, an induction and training manual used by the Provisionals, describes the strategy of the "Long War" in these terms:

1. A war of attrition against enemy personnel [British Army] based on causing as many deaths as possible so as to create a demand from their [the British] people at home for their withdrawal. The IRA Green Book is a training and induction manual issued by the Irish Republican Army to new volunteers This article is about the military strategy For the Israeli-Egyptian conflict see War of Attrition, for the game theoretical model see War of attrition (game
2. A bombing campaign aimed at making the enemy's financial interests in our country unprofitable while at the same time curbing long term investment in our country.
3. To make the Six Counties. . . ungovernable except by colonial military rule.
4. To sustain the war and gain support for its ends by National and International propaganda and publicity campaigns.
5. By defending the war of liberation by punishing criminals, collaborators and informers. ^[36]

1981 hunger strikes and electoral politics

IRA prisoners convicted after March 1976 did not have Special Category Status applied in prison. In July 1972 William Whitelaw, the British government 's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, granted Special Category Status to all prisoners convicted In response, over 500 prisoners refused to wash or wear prison clothes (see Dirty protest and Blanket protest. The dirty protest (also called the no wash protest) was part of a five year protest during The Troubles by Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA and The blanket protest (Agóid na mBlancéid was part of a five year protest during The Troubles by Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA and Irish National Liberation ) This activity culminated in the 1981 Irish hunger strike, when seven IRA and three Irish National Liberation Army members starved themselves to death in pursuit of political status. The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The Irish National Liberation Army ( INLA; Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann in Irish is an Irish Republican, Left-wing paramilitary organisation The hunger strike leader Bobby Sands and Anti H-Block activist Owen Carron were elected to the British Parliament, and two other protesting prisoners were elected to the Irish Dáil. Robert Gerard Sands (Roibeard Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh commonly known as Bobby Sands, (9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981 was a Provisional Irish Republican Army Anti H-Block was the political label used by candidates standing in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in support of the 1981 hunger strike. Owen Gerard Carron (born February 1953 is an Irish republican activist and the former Member of Parliament (MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone. The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories ga '''Dáil Éireann''' ( English House of Representatives of Ireland) is the principal chamber of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament In addition, there were work stoppages and large demonstrations all over Ireland in sympathy with the hunger strikers. Over 100,000 people attended the funeral of Sands, the first hunger striker to die.

After the success of IRA hunger strikers in mobilising support and winning elections on an Anti H-Block platform in 1981, republicans increasingly devoted time and resources to electoral politics, through the Sinn Féin party. Anti H-Block was the political label used by candidates standing in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in support of the 1981 hunger strike. Danny Morrison summed up this policy at a 1981 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis (annual meeting) as a "ballot paper in this hand and an Armalite in the other". Daniel Gerard Morrison (born 1953 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) known generally as Danny Morrison is an Irish republican activist and writer An Ardfheis or Ard Fheis ( pronounced ˈɛɕ plural Ardfheiseanna) (Ardfheis is an annual convention or special convention usually of a political party ^[37] (See Armalite and ballot box strategy)

"TUAS" - peace strategy

In the 1980s, the IRA made an attempt to escalate the conflict with the so called "Tet Offensive" (see here). The Armalite and the ballot box strategy was a strategy pursued by the Irish republican movement in the 1980s and early 1990s in which elections in Northern Ireland From 1969 until 1997 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA conducted an armed Paramilitary campaign in the United Kingdom, aimed at ending British When this did not prove successful, republican leaders increasingly looked for a political compromise to end the conflict. Gerry Adams entered talks with John Hume, the leader of the moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and secret talks were also conducted with British civil servants. John Hume (born 18 January 1937) is a former Politician in Northern Ireland, founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party ( SDLP; Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre is one of the two major nationalist parties in Northern Ireland Thereafter, Adams increasingly tried to disassociate Sinn Féin from the IRA, claiming they were separate organisations and refusing to comment on IRA actions. Within the Republican Movement (the IRA and Sinn Féin), the new strategy was described by the acronym TUAS, meaning either "Tactical Use of Armed Struggle" or "Totally Unarmed Strategy". The Republican Movement is a collective term used to describe the Irish Republican Army (IRA and other political social and paramilitary organisations associated with it ^[38]

The IRA ultimately called an indefinite ceasefire in 1994 on the understanding that Sinn Féin would be included in political talks for a settlement. Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 When this did not happen, the IRA called off its ceasefire from February 1996 until July 1997, carrying out several bombing and shooting attacks. After its ceasefire was reinstated, Sinn Féin was admitted into the "Peace Process", which produced the Belfast Agreement of 1998. The Agreement, most often referred to as the Belfast Agreement (Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste Belfast Greeance or the Good Friday Agreement (Comhaontú Aoine an

Weaponry and operations

Mural in Derry depicting IRA weapons, 1986.

Main articles: Provisional IRA arms importation, Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997, and Chronology of Provisional IRA Actions

In the early days of the Troubles from around 1969-71, the Provisional IRA was very poorly armed, but starting in the early 1970s it procured large amounts of modern weaponry from such sources as supporters in the United States, Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi,^[39] arms dealers in Europe, America, the Middle East and elsewhere. The Provisional Irish Republican Army began importing large quantities of weapons and ammunition into Ireland for use in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s From 1969 until 1997 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA conducted an armed Paramilitary campaign in the United Kingdom, aimed at ending British This page is a chronology of activities by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA an Irish Paramilitary group The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Libya ( ليبيا ar-Latn Lībiyā; Libyan vernacular: Lībya; Amazigh:) officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi 1 (معمر القذافي) (born 7 June 1942) also known as Colonel Gaddafi The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East.

In the first years of the conflict, the Provisionals' main activities were providing firepower to support nationalist rioters and defending nationalist areas from attacks. The IRA gained much of its support from these activities, as they were widely perceived within the nationalist community as being defenders of Irish nationalist and Roman Catholic people against aggression. Irish nationalism (Náisiúnachas Éireannach refers to political and sociological movements and sentiment that embodies a love for Irish ancestry, culture and language and ^[40]

However, from 1971–1994, the Provisionals launched a sustained offensive armed campaign that mainly targeted the British Army, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), and economic targets in Northern Ireland. The Royal Ulster Constabulary GC was the name of the Police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001 The Ulster Defence Regiment ( UDR) was an Infantry Regiment of the British Army formed as an anti-terrorist Militia in 1970 to replace The first half of the 1970s was the most intense period of the IRA campaign. In addition, IRA units carried out sectarian killings such as the Kingsmill massacre of 1976. Sectarianism is Bigotry, Discrimination, Prejudice or Hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions The Kingsmill massacre occurred on January 5, 1976 when ten Protestant men were killed just outside the village of Kingsmill in South Armagh,

The Armalite AR-18 - obtained by the IRA from the USA in the early 1970s and an emotive symbol of its armed campaign. The AR-18 is an Assault rifle chambered for 556x45mm NATO Ammunition. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

The IRA was chiefly active in Northern Ireland, although it took its campaign to England, and also carried out attacks in the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands and West Germany. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( The IRA also targeted certain British government officials, politicians, judges, senior military and police officers in England, and in other areas such as West Germany and the Netherlands. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands By the early 1990s, the bulk of the IRA activity was carried out by the South Armagh Brigade, well known through its sniping operations and attacks on British Army helicopters. The South Armagh Sniper is the Generic name given to the members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army 's South Armagh Brigade who conducted a sniping The bombing campaign principally targeted political, economic and military targets, and approximately 60 civilians were killed by the IRA in England during the conflict. ^[41] It has been argued that this bombing campaign helped convince the British government (who had hoped to contain the conflict to Northern Ireland with its Ulsterisation policy) to negotiate with Sinn Féin after the IRA ceasefires of August 1994 and July 1997. Ulsterisation refers to one part 'primacy of the police' of a three part strategy by the British Government to pacify Northern Ireland during the conflict known as Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970

Ceasefires and decommissioning of arms

On the 31 August 1994, the Provisional IRA declared an indefinite ceasefire. Although this ceasefire temporarily broke down in 1995-97, it essentially marked the end of the full scale IRA campaign.

From December 1995 until July 1997, the Provisional IRA called off its 1994 ceasefire because of its dissatisfaction with the state of negotiations. They re-instated the ceasefire in July 1997, it has been in operation since then. ^[42]

The Provisional IRA decommissioned all of its arms between July and September 2005. The decommissioning of its weaponry was supervised by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD). The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD was established to oversee the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons in Ireland, as part of the peace Among the weaponry estimated, (by Jane's Information Group), to have been destroyed as part of this process were:

• 1,000 rifles
• 3 tonnes of Semtex
• 20-30 heavy machine guns
• 7 Surface-to-air missiles (unused)
• 7 flame throwers
• 1,200 detonators
• 20 rocket-propelled grenade launchers
• 100 handguns
• 100+ grenades^[43]

The conclusion of the IICD (that all Provisional IRA weaponry has been destroyed) was arrived at by their full involvement in the process of destroying the weapons and their comparison of weapons destroyed with the figures British security forces estimate the IRA had. Jane's Information Group (often referred to as Jane's) is a Publishing company specialising in transportation and military topics which was founded by Fred T For the band The Rifles see The Rifles (band. For the novel by William T Semtex is a general-purpose Plastic explosive containing RDX and PETN. A heavy machine gun refers to either a larger-caliber high-power Machine gun or one of the smaller medium-caliber (rifle caliber machine guns meant for prolonged firing from Man-portable air-defense systems ( MANPADS) are shoulder-launched Surface-to-air missiles (SAMs A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of Fire. For the Ratt album see Detonator (album A detonator is a device used to trigger an Explosive device. ^[44] Since the process of decommissioning was completed, unnamed sources in MI5 and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) have reported to the press that not all IRA arms were destroyed during the process. The Police Service of Northern Ireland is the Police service that covers Northern Ireland. This claim remains unsubstantiated so far. ^[45] Although the group overseeing the activities of paramilitaries in Northern Ireland - the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC), in its latest report, dated April 2006, points out that it has no reason to disbelieve the IRA or information to suspect that the group has not fully decommissioned. The Independent Monitoring Commission ( IMC) is an organization founded on 7 January, 2004, by a Treaty between the British and Rather it indicated that any weaponry that had not been handed in had been retained by individuals outside the IRA's control. ^[46]

Other activities

Apart from its armed campaign, the Provisional IRA has also been involved in many other activities, including policing, robberies and kidnapping for the purposes of raising funds.

Policing of communities

One of the areas where the RUC were unwelcome was the Bogside area of Derry often known as Free Derry. The Bogside is a neighbourhood outside the city walls of Derry, Northern Ireland. Free Derry ( was a self-declared autonomous nationalist area of Derry, Northern Ireland, between 1969 and 1972

The IRA looked on itself as the police force of nationalist areas of Northern Ireland during the Troubles instead of the RUC. There were a number of reasons for this. In many Nationalist areas of Northern Ireland, the RUC and British Army, as a result of their conduct and perceived involvement in oppression and violence against Nationalists, were considered biased and untrustworthy, and so were not welcome. ^[47] Also, the RUC and other forces of the authorities were in some instances reluctant to enter certain Nationalist areas, or patrol, unless it was in armoured Land Rovers and in convoy. Police stations were also heavily armoured because of persistent attacks from the IRA. This gave them the appearance of being fortresses. These conditions led to a situation where in some areas, the community would turn to the IRA first to deal with troublemakers or those practising what came to be called "anti-social behaviour". ^[48] In efforts to stamp out "anti-social behaviour" and alleged instances of drug dealing reported to or noticed by the organisation, it killed or otherwise attacked suspected drug dealers and other suspected criminals. These attacks varied in severity and depended on various factors. In the first instance, the IRA may serve a caution on the perceived offender, which if they transgressed again might escalate to an attack known as a "punishment beating". Shooting the offender was seen as a last resort, although the process which the IRA went through to determine an offenders "guilt" or "innocence" was never open to debate or scrutiny. The IRA also engaged in attacks which broke the bones of alleged offenders, or involved shooting through the hands, or knees for persistent offenders of activities such as joyriding or drug dealing. Knee-capping is a form of malicious wounding often as extralegal Punishment or Torture, in which the victim is injured in the Knee, usually using a To joyride is to drive around in a stolen Car, Boat, or other Vehicle with no particular goal a ride taken solely for pleasure ^[49] In certain cases, for persistent offenders the IRA would serve a notice for the individual to leave the country, this was known as being "put out" of the community/country, and the clear message given to individuals served with these notices was that if they returned to the community/country they would be killed. This practice was frequently criticised by all sections of the political establishment in Northern Ireland as "summary justice". Not to be confused with formal proceedings of so-called Summary judgment (e

Informers

In an effort to stamp out what the IRA termed "collaboration with British forces" and "informing", they killed a number of Catholic civilians, such as Joseph Fenton. Joseph "Joe" Fenton (c 1953 &ndash 26 February 1989) was an Estate agent from Belfast, Northern Ireland, killed by the Purges against these individuals, who the IRA considered traitors to their own community and the cause of nationalism, were most prevalent when the IRA found itself persistently vulnerable to infiltration. Investigations into informers and infiltration are suspected to have been dealt with by an IRA unit called the Internal Security Unit (ISU) known colloquially as the 'Nutting Squad'. The Internal Security Unit (ISU was the name given to a counter intelligence and interrogation unit that operated within the former paramilitary organisation the Provisional Irish This unit is said to be directly attached to IRA GHQ. Where a confession was solicited, the victim was often exiled or executed with a bullet in the back of the head. The body was either buried or later in the IRA campaign left in a public place often in South Armagh.

One particular example of the killing of a person deemed by the IRA to have been an informer that is the source of continuing controversy is that of Jean McConville from Belfast who was killed by the IRA. Jean McConville was a Belfast -born mother of 10 who was abducted from her home and killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA on or around Christmas of Ed Moloney and IRA sources continue to claim she was an informer despite the Police Ombudsman recently stating that this was not the case. Ed Moloney (born Edmund is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of The Troubles in Northern Ireland and particularly the activities The Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland is a Non-Departmental Public Body intended to provide an independent impartial police complaints system for the people The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) have described the killing as a 'war crime'. The Social Democratic and Labour Party ( SDLP; Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre is one of the two major nationalist parties in Northern Ireland War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war" including but not limited to "murder the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied Her family contend that she was killed as a punishment for aiding a dying British soldier in West Belfast.

In March 2007 Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan announced that there would be an inquiry into claims of collusion between IRA members and the British security forces. The Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland is a Non-Departmental Public Body intended to provide an independent impartial police complaints system for the people Dame Nuala Patricia O'Loan DBE (born 20 December 1951) is a noted public figure in Northern Ireland. ^[50]

Attacks on other Republican paramilitary groups

The IRA has also feuded with other republican paramilitary groups such as the Official IRA in the 1970s and the Irish People's Liberation Organisation in the 1990s. The term Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (informally the Officials) refers to one of the two organisations&mdashthe other being the Provisional The Irish People's Liberation Organisation was a small Irish republican paramilitary organization which was formed in 1986 by disaffected and expelled members of the Irish

Joseph O'Connor (26) was shot dead in Ballymurphy, west Belfast on 11 October 2000. Events 1138 - A massive earthquake struck Aleppo, Syria. 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli is killed 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. He was a leading member of the Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA). The Real Irish Republican Army, otherwise known as the Real IRA (RIRA or True IRA and styling itself as Óglaigh na hÉireann (Volunteers Claims have been made by O'Connor's family and people associated with the RIRA, that he was murdered by Provisionals as the result of a feud between the organisations,^[51] but Sinn Féin denied the claims. ^[52] No-one has been charged as yet with his killing.

Fundraising via organised crime

According to the Irish Minister of Justice from 2002 to 2007, Michael McDowell, the IRA was involved in organised crime on both sides of the Irish border. Michael McDowell (Mícheál Mac Dubhghaill born 29 May 1951 Senior Counsel of the Irish bar is a former Irish politician who helped found the Progressive These activities include smuggling of counterfeit goods, contraband cigarettes and oil. ^[53]

Casualties

This is a summary. For a detailed breakdown of casualties caused by and inflicted on the IRA see Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997#Casualties

The IRA have reportedly killed more people than any other organisation since the Troubles began. From 1969 until 1997 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA conducted an armed Paramilitary campaign in the United Kingdom, aimed at ending British In addition, they have killed more Roman Catholics, more Protestants, more civilians and more foreigners (those not from Northern Ireland) than any other organisation. Members of the IRA however have frequently disputed that the forces ranged in opposition to the IRA throughout 'the Troubles' represent separate, distinct "organisations". In the republican analysis of the conflict, organisations like the UDR, British Army, along with the UVF, and UDA represent an alliance of state and paramilitary forces, making a tally of this type nonsensical as it does not represent the nature of the conflict in their view. ^[54]

Two very detailed studies of deaths in the Troubles, the CAIN project at the University of Ulster, and Lost Lives,^[55] differ slightly on the numbers killed by the Provisional IRA but a rough synthesis gives a figure of 1,800 deaths. The University of Ulster ( UU; Ollscoil Uladh is a multi-centre University located in Northern Ireland and is the largest single university on the Of these, roughly 1,100 were members of the security forces - British Army, Royal Ulster Constabulary and Ulster Defence Regiment, between 600 and 650 were civilians and the remainder were either loyalist or republican paramilitaries (including over 100 IRA members accidentally killed by their own bombs). The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. The Royal Ulster Constabulary GC was the name of the Police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001 The Ulster Defence Regiment ( UDR) was an Infantry Regiment of the British Army formed as an anti-terrorist Militia in 1970 to replace

It has also been estimated that the IRA injured 6,000 British Army, UDR and RUC and up to 14,000 civilians, during the Troubles. ^[56]

The IRA lost a little under 300 members killed in the Troubles. ^[57] In addition, roughly 50-60 members of Sinn Féin were killed. Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 ^[58]

Far more common than the killing of IRA volunteers however, was their imprisonment. Journalists Eamonn Mallie and Patrick Bishop estimate in their book The Provisional IRA, that between eight and ten thousand members of the organisation had been imprisoned by the mid-1980s, a number they also give as the total number of past and present IRA members at that time. ^[59]

Categorisation

The IRA is a proscribed organisation in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act 2000. The Terrorism Act 2000 is a current United Kingdom Act of Parliament, described as "an Act to make provision about Terrorism; and to make temporary ^[5] In Northern Ireland the IRA are referred to as terrorists by the Ulster Unionist Party, the Democratic Unionist Party and the Progressive Unionist Party. The Ulster Unionist Party ( UUP, sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP or in a historic sense simply the Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party ( DUP) is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. See Ulster Progressive Unionist Association, for the political group founded in 1938 The Progressive Unionist Party ( PUP) is a small Members of the IRA are tried in the Republic of Ireland in the Special Criminal Court. The Special Criminal Court (Cúirt Choiriúil Speisialta is a Juryless criminal Court in the Republic of Ireland which tries terrorist and On the island of Ireland the largest political party to state that the IRA is not a terrorist organisation is Sinn Féin, currently the largest pro-Belfast Agreement political party in Northern Ireland (Sinn Féin is widely regarded as the political wing of the IRA, but the party insists that the two organisations are separate). The European Union has removed the IRA from their list of terrorist organisations. Peter Mandelson, a former Northern Ireland Secretary (a member of the British cabinet with responsibility for Northern Ireland) contrasted the post-1997 activities of the IRA with those of Al-Qaeda, describing the latter as "terrorists" and the former as "freedom fighters" (though Mandelson subsequently denied this sentiment ^[60]). Peter Benjamin Mandelson (born 21 October 1953 called "Mandy" by much of the British News media, is a British Labour Politician who is the serving Al-Qaeda, alternatively spelled al-Qaida, al-Qa`ida or al-Qa`idah, ( Arabic:; ar-Latn ''al-qāʿidah'' Translation: The IRA supporters preferred the labels freedom fighter, guerrilla and volunteer. Freedom fighter is a term to describe those that engage in a struggle to achieve freedom for themselves or to free others in some matter Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc Volunteer, often abbreviated Vol, is a term used by a number of Irish republican Paramilitary organisations to describe their members

The IRA describes its actions throughout 'The Troubles' as a military campaign waged against the British Army, the RUC, other security forces, judiciary, loyalist politicians and loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland, England and Europe. The IRA considers these groups to be all part of the same apparatus. ^[61] As noted above, the IRA seeks to draw a direct descendancy from the original IRA and those who engaged in the Irish War of Independence. The Irish War of Independence (or Tan War, or Anglo-Irish War, Irish: Cogadh na Saoirse) from January 1919 to July 1921 was a guerrilla The IRA sees the previous conflict as a guerrilla war which accomplished some of its aims, with some remaining "unfinished business". Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc ^[62] The IRA considers its members guerrillas fighting a war.

A process called "Criminalisation" was begun in the mid 1970s as part of a British strategy of "Criminalisation, Ulsterisation, and Normalisation". The policy was outlined in a 1975 British strategy paper titled "The Way Ahead", which was not published but was referred to by Labour's first Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Merlyn Rees, and came to be the dominant British political theme in the conflict as it raged into the 1980s.

A less loaded categorisation of IRA violence exists. It does not involve the terms "guerrilla" or "terrorist" but does view the conflict in military terms. The phrase originated with the British military strategist Frank Kitson who was active in Northern Ireland during the early 1970s. General Sir Frank Edward Kitson GBE, KCB, MC and Bar, DL (born 1926 is a retired British Army officer and writer In Kitson's view, the violence of the IRA represented an "insurrection" situation, with the enveloping atmosphere of belligerence representing a "low intensity conflict" — a conflict where the forces involved in fighting operate at a greatly reduced tempo, with fewer combatants, at a reduced range of tactical equipment and limited scope to operate in a military manner. Low intensity conflict (LIC is the use of Military forces applied selectively and with restraint to enforce compliance with the policies or objectives of the political

Membership of the IRA remains illegal in both the UK and the Republic of Ireland, but IRA prisoners convicted of offences committed before 1998 have been granted conditional early release as part of the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Agreement, most often referred to as the Belfast Agreement (Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste Belfast Greeance or the Good Friday Agreement (Comhaontú Aoine an In the United Kingdom a person convicted of membership of a "proscribed organisation", such as the IRA, still nominally faces imprisonment for up to 10 years. ^[63]

Strength and support

Republican mural, Derry 1986, with evidence of vandalism. Vandalism is the behaviour attributed to the Vandals in respect of Culture: ruthless Destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or Venerable

Numerical strength

In the early to mid 1970s, the numbers recruited by the Provisional IRA, may have reached several thousand, but these were reduced when the IRA re-organised its structures from 1977 onwards. An RUC report of 1986 estimated that the IRA had 300 or so members in Active Service Units and up to 750 active members in total in Northern Ireland. The Royal Ulster Constabulary GC was the name of the Police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001 ^[64] This does not take into consideration the IRA units in the Republic of Ireland or those in Britain, continental Europe, and throughout the world. In 2005, the then Irish Minister for Justice Michael McDowell told the Dáil that the organisation had "between 1,000 and 1,500" active members. The Minister for Justice Equality and Law Reform (Aire Dlí agus Cirt Comhionannais agus Athchóirithe Dlí is the senior minister at the Department of Justice Equality Michael McDowell (Mícheál Mac Dubhghaill born 29 May 1951 Senior Counsel of the Irish bar is a former Irish politician who helped found the Progressive ga '''Dáil Éireann''' ( English House of Representatives of Ireland) is the principal chamber of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament ^[65] According to The Provisional IRA (Eamon Mallie and Patrick Bishop), roughly 8,000 people passed through the ranks of the IRA in the first 20 years of its existence, many of them leaving after arrest, "retirement" or disillusionment. ^[66] The total figure for the number to have passed through the organisation must therefore be higher again, once those recruited since 1988 are taken into account. In recent times the IRA's strength has been somewhat weakened by members leaving the organisation to join hardline splinter groups such as the Continuity IRA and the Real IRA. The Continuity Irish Republican Army ( CIRA) is an Irish republican Paramilitary organisation that emerged from a split in the Provisional IRA The Real Irish Republican Army, otherwise known as the Real IRA (RIRA or True IRA and styling itself as Óglaigh na hÉireann (Volunteers According to former Irish Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, these organisations have little more than 150 members each. ^[67] Despite some successes by the British and Irish security services, military and police at infiltrating the IRA, as of the year 2001, the British and Irish governments believed that the IRA remained an extremely potent and capable terrorist organisation. Police are agents or agencies usually of the executive, empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimatized use of force

Electoral and popular support

The popular support for the IRA's campaign in the Troubles is hard to gauge, given that Sinn Féin, the IRA's political wing, did not stand in elections until the early 1980s. Even after this, most nationalists in Northern Ireland voted for the moderate Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) until the early 2000s. The Social Democratic and Labour Party ( SDLP; Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre is one of the two major nationalist parties in Northern Ireland After the 1981 hunger strike, Sinn Féin mobilised large electoral support and won 105,000 votes or 43% of the nationalist vote in Northern Ireland, in the United Kingdom general election, 1983, only 34,000 votes behind the SDLP. The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. Results The Conservatives won with a majority of 144 seats|} Total votes cast 30661309 ^[68] However, by the 1992 UK General Election, the SDLP won 184,445 votes and four seats to Sinn Féin's 78,291 votes and no seats. Results |} The turnout was 33514074 from an Electorate of 43275316 voting in a total of 651 seats ^[69] In the 1993 Local District Council Elections in Northern Ireland, the SDLP won roughly 150,000 votes to Sinn Féin's 80,000 votes. ^[70] During the Troubles, therefore, nationalists in Northern Ireland tended to vote for non-violent nationalism rather than for Sinn Féin, who endorsed the IRA campaign. Sinn Féin did not overtake the SDLP as the main nationalist party in Northern Ireland until after the Belfast Agreement, by which time they no longer advocated violence. Few Protestant voters voted for Sinn Féin. In 1992, many of them voted for SDLP West Belfast candidate Joe Hendron rather than a unionist candidate in order to make sure Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin lost his seat in the constituency. Joe Hendron (born 12 November 1932) is a Northern Ireland politician a member of the Irish nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP Unionism in Ireland, is a belief in the desirability of a full constitutional and institutional relationship between Ireland and Great Britain based on the terms and ^[71]

However, it is widely recognised that the IRA possessed substantial support in parts of Northern Ireland since the early 1970s. Areas of IRA support included working class Catholic/nationalist areas of Belfast, Derry and other towns and cities. The most notable of these include parts of the north and west Belfast and the Bogside and Creggan areas of Derry City. The Bogside is a neighbourhood outside the city walls of Derry, Northern Ireland. Creggan ( Irish: An Creagán; meaning stony place) is a large housing estate in Derry in Northern Ireland. In addition, the IRA has been strongly supported in rural areas with a strong republican tradition, these include South Armagh, East Tyrone, South County Londonderry and several other localities. Such support would be indicated by the recruitment of IRA members from an area and the populace hiding weapons, providing safe houses to IRA members and providing information on the movements of the Security Forces.

In the Republic of Ireland, there was some sympathy for the IRA movement in the early 1970s. However, the movement's appeal was hurt badly by bombings such as the killing of civilians attending a Remembrance Day ceremony at the cenotaph in Enniskillen in 1987 and the death of two children when a bomb exploded in Warrington, which led to tens of thousands of people demonstrating on O'Connell Street in Dublin to call for an end to the IRA's campaign. The Remembrance Day bombing, also known as the Enniskillen bombing or the Poppy Day massacre, occurred on 8 November 1987 in Enniskillen A cenotaph is a tomb or a Monument erected in honour of a person or group of persons whose remains are elsewhere The Warrington bomb attacks took place in Warrington, England in 1993. Warrington is a large town borough and Unitary authority area in Cheshire, England. O'Connell Street (Sráid Uí Chonaill is Dublin 's main thoroughfare Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. Sinn Féin did very badly in elections in the Republic of Ireland during the IRA's campaign. Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. For example, in the December 1981 local government elections, Sinn Féin candidates won just 5% of the popular vote. ^[72] By the 1987 Irish General Election, they won only 1. The Irish general election of 1987 was held on 17 February 1987 four weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 20 January 7% of the votes cast. ^[73] They did not make significant electoral gains in the Republic until after the IRA ceasefires and the Belfast Agreement of 1998.

Sinn Féin now has 28 members of the Northern Ireland Assembly (out of 108), five Westminster MPs (out of 18 from Northern Ireland) and five Republic of Ireland TDs (out of 166). The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. A Teachta Dála (ˈtʲaxtə ˈdɑːlə is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower chamber of the Oireachtas (Parliament of the Republic of Ireland.

Support from other countries and organisations

Main article: Provisional IRA arms importation

The IRA have had contacts with foreign governments and other illegal armed organisations. The Provisional Irish Republican Army began importing large quantities of weapons and ammunition into Ireland for use in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s

Libya has been the biggest single supplier of arms and funds to the IRA, donating large amounts (three shipments of arms in the early 1970s and another three in the mid 1980s, the latter reputedly enough to arm two regular infantry battalions) of both in the early 1970s and mid 1980s. ^[74]

The IRA has also received weapons and logistical support from Irish Americans in the United States, especially the NORAID group. Irish Americans (Gael-Mheiriceánach are citizens of the United States who can claim ancestry originating in Ireland. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Noraid or the Irish Northern Aid Committee is an Irish American fund raising organization founded after the start of The Troubles in Northern Ireland Apart from the Libyan aid, this has been the main source of overseas IRA support. American support has been weakened by the War against Terrorism, and the fallout from the events of 11 September 2001. The War on Terrorism (also known as the War on Terror) is the common term for the military political and legal, and ideological conflict and specifically for U ^[75][76]

In the United States in November 1982, five men were acquitted of smuggling arms to the IRA after they revealed the Central Intelligence Agency had approved the shipment (although the CIA officially denied this). near as long as it used to be several months ago It has been actively summarized and split into sub-articles and there is a dynamic talk page discussion of all ^[77] There are allegations of contact with the East German Stasi, based on the testimony of a Soviet defector to British intelligence Vasili Mitrokhin. The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state For the regular police in East Germany see Volkspolizei. The Ministerium für Staatssicherheit ( Ministry for State Security See also Mitrokhin Archive Vasili Nikitich Mitrokhin (Василий Никитич Митрохин ( March 3 1922 &ndash January 23, Mitrokhin revealed that although the Soviet KGB gave some weapons to the Marxist Official IRA, it had little sympathy with the Provisionals. KGB ( Transliteration of "КГБ" is the Russian abbreviation of Committee for State Security ( Komityet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosty The term Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (informally the Officials) refers to one of the two organisations&mdashthe other being the Provisional ^[78] Another more recent allegation is that the Provisional movement has been aided by the Cuban General Intelligence Directorate. Cubans (Cubanos are people inhabiting or originating from Cuba. The Intelligence Directorate ( Spanish: Dirección de Inteligencia, or DI, formerly known as Dirección General de Inteligencia or DGI It has received some training and support from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and has had some contact with Hezbollah. The Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO) (منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية or Munazzamat al-Tahrir al-Filastiniyyah) is a political and paramilitary Hezbollah (حزب الله, literally " party of God " is a Shi'a Islamic political and Paramilitary organisation In May 1996, the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's internal security service, publicly accused Estonia of arms smuggling, and claimed that the IRA had contacted representatives of Estonia's volunteer defense force, Kaitseliit, and some non-government groups to buy weapons. The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation ( FSB) ( Russian: ФСБ Федера́льная слу́жба безопа́сности Federalnaya The Estonian Defence League (Kaitseliit is the name of the unified paramilitary armed forces of the Republic of Estonia. ^[79][80] In 2001 three Irish men who became known as the Colombia Three were arrested after allegedly training Colombian guerrillas, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in bomb making and urban warfare techniques. The Colombia Three are three individuals &ndash Niall Connolly James Monaghan and Martin McCauley &ndash who are currently residing in the Republic of Ireland, having fled The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo also known by the Acronym of The U. S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations in its report of 24 April 2002 concluded "Neither committee investigators nor the Colombians can find credible explanations for the increased, more sophisticated capacity for these specific terror tactics now being employed by the FARC, other than IRA training". Events 1479 BC - Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[81]

The Belfast Agreement

Main article: Belfast Agreement

The IRA ceasefire in 1997 formed part of a process that led to the 1998 Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. The Agreement, most often referred to as the Belfast Agreement (Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste Belfast Greeance or the Good Friday Agreement (Comhaontú Aoine an A ceasefire (or truce) is a temporary stoppage of a War or any Armed conflict, where each side of the conflict agrees The Agreement has among its aims that all paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland cease their activities and disarm by May 2000. This is one of many Agreement aims that have yet to be realised.

Calls from Sinn Féin have led the IRA to commence disarming in a process that has been overviewed by Canadian General John de Chastelain's decommissioning body in October 2001. Alfred John Gardyne Drummond de Chastelain OC CH CMM CD (born July 30, 1937) is a retired Canadian The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD was established to oversee the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons in Ireland, as part of the peace However, following the collapse of the Stormont power-sharing government in 2002, which was partly triggered by allegations that republican spies were operating within Parliament Buildings and the Civil Service, the IRA temporarily broke contact with General de Chastelain.

In December 2004, attempts to persuade the IRA to disarm entirely collapsed when the Democratic Unionist Party, under Ian Paisley, insisted on photographic evidence. Ian Richard Kyle Paisley (born 6 April 1926 styled The Rt Hon Justice Minister Michael McDowell (in public, and often) insisted that there would need to be a complete end to IRA activity.

At the beginning of February 2005, the IRA declared that it was withdrawing from the disarmament process, but in July 2005 it declared that its campaign of violence was over, and that transparent mechanisms would be used, under the de Chastelain process, to satisfy the Northern Ireland communities that it was disarming totally.

End of the armed campaign

On 28 July 2005, the IRA Army Council announced an end to its armed campaign. Events 1540 - Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of Treason. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In a statement read by Séanna Breathnach, the organisation stated that it had instructed its members to dump all weapons and not to engage in "any other activities whatsoever" apart from assisting “the development of purely political and democratic programmes through exclusively peaceful means". Séanna Breathnach ( English: Séanna Walsh; born 1957 is an Irish republican and a former volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Furthermore, the organisation authorised its representatives to engage immediately with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) to verifiably put its arms beyond use "in a way which will further enhance public confidence and to conclude this as quickly as possible". The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD was established to oversee the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons in Ireland, as part of the peace ^[82]

This is not the first time that organisations styling themselves IRA have issued orders to dump arms. After its defeat in the Irish Civil War in 1924 and at the end of its unsuccessful Border Campaign in 1962, the IRA Army Council issued similar orders. The Irish Civil War ( June 28 1922 &ndash May 24 1923) pitted supporters of the Anglo-Irish Treaty against its opponents The Border Campaign ( December 12 1956 – February 26 1962) was a campaign of Guerrilla warfare ( codenamed Operation However, this is the first time in Irish republicanism that any organisation has voluntarily decided to destroy its arms.

On 25 September 2005, international weapons inspectors supervised the full disarmament of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, a long-sought goal of Northern Ireland's peace process. Events 303 - On a voyage preaching the Gospel, Saint Fermin of Pamplona is beheaded in Amiens, France Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The office of IICD Chairman John de Chastelain, a retired Canadian general who oversaw the weapons destruction at secret locations, released details regarding the scrapping of many tons of IRA weaponry at a news conference in Belfast on 26 September. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar dedicates a He said the arms had been "put beyond use" and that they were "satisfied that the arms decommissioned represent the totality of the IRA's arsenal. "

The IRA permitted two independent witnesses, including a Methodist minister, Rev. Methodism is a movement within Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations Harold Good, and Father Alec Reid, a Roman Catholic priest close to Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, to view the secret disarmament work. Father Alec Reid is an Irish priest noted for his facilitator role in the Northern Ireland peace process. ^[83] However, Ian Paisley, the leader of the DUP, complained that since the witnesses were appointed by the IRA themselves, rather than being appointed by the British or Irish governments, they therefore cannot be said to be unbiased witnesses to the decommissioning. These claims came as expected by Nationalists and Catholics, who viewed Ian Paisley’s consistent refusal to support devolution in Northern Ireland with Catholics in power as a simple unwillingness to accept an end to Unionist rule and Catholic equality. ^[84]

Continuing activities of IRA members

The 10th report from the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC), an organisation monitoring activity by paramilitary groups on behalf of the British and Irish governments, prefaced its remarks about IRA activity by saying:

"It remains our absolutely clear view that the PIRA leadership has committed itself to following a peaceful path. The Independent Monitoring Commission ( IMC) is an organization founded on 7 January, 2004, by a Treaty between the British and It is working to bring the whole organisation fully along with it and has expended considerable effort to refocus the movement in support of its objective. In the last three months this process has involved the further dismantling of PIRA as a military structure. "

Its report made the following comments about current IRA activity:

"We are not aware of current terrorist, paramilitary or violent activity sanctioned by the leadership. We have had no indications in the last three months of training, engineering activity, recent recruitment or targeting for the purposes of attack. There has now been a substantial erosion in PIRA’s capacity to return to a military campaign without a significant period of build-up, which in any event we do not believe they have any intentions of doing. The instructions we have previously mentioned to refrain from violence or rioting still stand. "^[85]

The IMC has come in for criticism (mainly by Republicans) as having been set up outside the terms of the Good Friday Agreement as a sop to Unionism. Sinn Féin MP Conor Murphy summed up the typical republican feeling towards the IMC in February 2006. He said, "The IMC was established outside and in breach of the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. It is a tool for the securocrats and the opponents of change. It is not and never has been independent. It is politically biased, has a clear anti Sinn Féin agenda, and its procedures are flawed. "

On 4 October 2006, the IMC ruled that the IRA were no longer a threat. Events 610 - Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[86]

P. O'Neill

The IRA traditionally uses a well-known signature in its public statements, which are all issued under the pseudonym of "P. A pseudonym is a fictitious alternative to a person's legal name (see Alias) O'Neill" of the "Irish Republican Publicity Bureau, Dublin". ^[87]

According to Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, it was Seán Mac Stiofáin, as chief of staff of the IRA, who invented the name. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (born 2 October 1932 is an Irish republican. Seán Mac Stíofáin ( 17 February 1928 &ndash 18 May 2001) was an Irish republican and first chief of staff of the However, under his usage, the name was written and pronounced according to Irish orthography and pronunciation as "P. Ó Néill". Ó Brádaigh also maintains that there is no particular significance to the name, thus discounting claims that it is a reference to Sir Phelim O'Neill, the executed leader of the Irish Rebellion of 1641. Sir Felim O'Neill of Kinard (died August 1653 better known as Phelim O'Neill was an Irish nobleman who led the Irish Rebellion of 1641 in Ulster The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted Coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry but developed into inter communal violence between native According to Danny Morrison, the pseudonym "S. Daniel Gerard Morrison (born 1953 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) known generally as Danny Morrison is an Irish republican activist and writer O'Neill" was used during the 1940s. ^[87]

Infiltration

The IRA has been infiltrated by British Intelligence agents, and in the past some IRA members have been informers. Members suspected of being informants were usually executed after an IRA 'court-martial'. The IRA executed 63 people as informers in the Troubles.

The first large infiltrations of IRA structures occurred in the mid 1970s, around the time of the ceasefire of 1975. Many IRA volunteers were arrested when this ceasefire broke down in 1976. In the 1980s, many more IRA members were imprisoned on the testimony of former IRA members known as "supergrasses" such as Raymond Gilmour and Martin McGartland. A supergrass is slang term for an Informer, which originated in London. Raymond Gilmour is a former Irish National Liberation Army (INLA and Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA volunteer who worked clandestinely from 1977 Martin McGartland is a former Provisional Irish Republican Army informer who joined the organisation in order to pass information to British security forces Sean O'Callaghan, one of the IRA commanders in the Republic of Ireland, was an informer for the Garda Siochana throughout the 1980s until he was discovered and was put in protective custody in Britain. Sean O'Callaghan is a former member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA who became an Informer for the Garda Síochána Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. ga '''''Garda Síochána na hÉireann''''' (ˈgaːrdə ʃiːˈxaːnə nə ˈheːɾʲən Irish for "Peace Guard of Ireland" often rendered

In recent years, there have been some high profile allegations of senior IRA figures having been British informers. In May 2003 a number of newspapers named Freddie Scappaticci as the alleged identity of the British Force Research Unit's most senior informer within the Provisional IRA, code-named Stakeknife, who is thought to have been head of the IRA's internal security force, charged with rooting out and executing informers. Alfredo ("Freddie" or "Frederick" Scappaticci was accused in the Irish & British media on 11 May Force Research Unit ( FRU) is alleged to be a name used by a covert Military intelligence unit established by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence Stakeknife is the code name of a spy who infiltrated the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA at a high level as an agent working for the top secret Scappaticci denies that this is the case and in 2003 failed in a legal bid to force the then Minister for NI, Jane Kennedy, to state he was not an informer. Jane Elizabeth Kennedy (born 4 May 1958, as Jane Elizabeth Hodgson) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom, and currently ^[88] She has refused to do so, and since then Scappaticci has not launched any libel actions against the media making the allegations.

On 16 December 2005, senior Sinn Féin member Denis Donaldson appeared before TV cameras in Dublin and confessed to being a British spy for twenty years. Events 755 - An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Denis Martin Donaldson ( Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1950 &ndash April 4, 2006 in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland) was ^[89] He was expelled from Sinn Féin and was said to have been debriefed by the party. ^[90] Donaldson was a former Provisional IRA volunteer and subsequently highly placed Sinn Féin party member. One example of the trust put in Donaldson is that he had been entrusted by Gerry Adams with the running of Sinn Féin's operations in the USA in the early 1990s. ^[91] On 4 April 2006 Donaldson was found shot dead at his retreat near Glenties in County Donegal. Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Glenties (official name Na Gleannta, meaning The Glens) is a small town in the northwest of Ireland in central County Donegal. County Donegal (ˌdʌnəˈgɔːl Irish: Contae Dhún na nGall. ^[92] When asked whether he felt Donaldson's role as an informer in Sinn Féin was significant, the IRA double agent using the pseudonym "Kevin Fulton" described Donaldson's role as a spy within Sinn Féin as "the tip of the iceberg". "Kevin Fulton" is the pseudonym of a British agent from Newry, Northern Ireland who allegedly spied on the Provisional Irish Republican Army ^[93] The former Force Research Unit and MI5 operative using the pseudonym "Martin Ingram" concurs with "Kevin Fulton" and has even gone so far as to allege that Gerry Adams knew that Donaldson was an agent. Martin Ingram is the Pseudonym of an ex- British Army soldier who served in the Intelligence Corps and Force Research Unit (FRU Ingram was described in court as a walter mitty type character, Ingram has also claimed that Martin McGuinness is a British agent. As evidence for this claim he alleges that McGuinness was involved in the death of IRA volunteer and FRU agent Frank Hegarty in May 1986. ^[94] McGuinness has denied any involvement in the Hegarty case and brushed off allegations that he is a spy. ^[95] He also brushed off the most recent allegations made by Ingram in the Sunday World newspaper on 28 May 2006. The Sunday World is an Irish Newspaper published by Sunday Newspapers Limited a division of Independent News and Media. Events 585 BC - A Solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[96]

On 8 February 2008 Roy McShane was taken into police protection after being unmasked as an informer. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common McShane, a former IRA member, had been Gerry Adams' personal driver for many years. Adams said he was "too philosophical" to feel betrayed. ^[97]

See also

• British Military Intelligence Systems in Northern Ireland
• History of Northern Ireland
• Northern Ireland peace process

References

Sources

• Martin Dillon, 25 Years of Terror - the IRA's War against the British,
• Richard English, Armed Struggle - A History of the IRA, MacMillan, London 2003, ISBN 1-4050-0108-9
• Peter Taylor, Provos - the IRA and Sinn Féin
• Ed Moloney, A Secret History of the IRA, Penguin, London 2002,
• Eamonn Mallie and Patrick Bishop, The Provisional IRA, Corgi, London 1988. This article is about the Author and Journalist. See Martin Dillon for the Musician, Operatic Tenor, and Professor Richard English is a Historian from Northern Ireland. He was born in Belfast in 1963 Peter Taylor born Scarborough, North Yorkshire is a British Journalist and documentary -maker who had covered for many years the political Ed Moloney (born Edmund is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of The Troubles in Northern Ireland and particularly the activities A Secret History of the IRA (Penguin 2002 2007 by award-winning journalist Ed Moloney. ISBN 0-552-13337-X
• Toby Harnden, Bandit Country -The IRA and South Armagh, Hodder & Stoughton, London 1999, ISBN 0-340-71736-X
• Brendan O'Brien, The Long War - The IRA and Sinn Féin. Toby Harnden (born 1966 is a United States -based British journalist and author This article is about the Irish journalist For articles about other people with the same name see Brendan O'Brien (disambiguation. O'Brien Press, Dublin 1995, ISBN 0-86278-359-3
• Tim Pat Coogan, The Troubles,
• Tim Pat Coogan, The IRA: A History (1994)
• Tony Geraghty, The Irish War, 1998 ISBN 0801864569
• David McKitrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney, Chris Thornton, David McVea, Lost Lives. Timothy Patrick Coogan (born 1935 is an Irish Historian, broadcaster and newspaper columnist Tony Geraghty is a British - Irish writer and journalist He served in the Parachute Regiment, and was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal
• J Bowyer Bell, The Secret Army - The IRA, 1997 3rd Edition, ISBN 1-85371-813-0
• Christopher Andrews, The Mitrokhin Archive (also published as The Sword and the Shield)

External links

• CAIN (Conflict Archive Internet) Archive of IRA statements
• FAS Intelligence Resource Program - Irish Republican Army (IRA)
• Terrorism: Q & A Irish Republican Army
• Royal Ulster Constabulary GC Memorial Website
• Behind The Mask: The IRA & Sinn Fein PBS Frontline documentary on the subject. J Bowyer Bell ( 15 November 1931 &ndash 23 August 2003) was an American Historian, Artist and Art critic
• Lengthy Interview given by Martin Ingram on Radio Free Eireann describing his FRU activities. NOTE, the interview begins twenty-five minutes in.
• IRA Hungerstrikes Information on the 1981 hunger strike
• Operation Banner