Irish Republican Army

Irish Republican Army (IRA), nationalist organization devoted to the integration of Ireland as a complete and independent unit. Organized by Michael Collins from remnants of rebel units dispersed after the Easter Rebellion in 1916 (see Ireland ), it was composed of the more militant members of the Irish Volunteers, and it became the military wing of the Sinn Féin party. With the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, the IRA became the stronghold of intransigent opposition to Ireland's dominion status and to the separation of Northern Ireland. During the troubled early years of the Free State, the IRA was responsible for numerous bombings, raids, and street battles on both sides of the Irish border.

Popular and effective at first, its fortunes turned after Eamon De Valera , a former IRA supporter, took over the Free State government in 1932. Weakened by internal dissensions, by a loss of popular support because of its violence and pro-German agitation during World War II, by the attainment of republican objectives in 1949, and by government measures against its illegal activities, the IRA declined swiftly. Eventually outlawed by both Irish governments, it became a secret organization. It perpetrated bombing attacks in Belfast, London, and at the Ulster border during the 1950s, particularly in 1956-57, but then became quiescent until the late 1960s.

In 1969 the IRA split into two groups, the majority, or "officials," advocating a united socialist Ireland but disavowing terrorist activities, and the "provisionals," claiming terrorism as a necessary catalyst for unification. The "provisionals" then began a systematic terrorist campaign in Northern Ireland. In 1972 the "provisionals" extended their terrorism to England, where it culminated in the bombing (1974) of a Birmingham pub that killed 19 persons. In response the British parliament passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act, outlawing the IRA in Britain. The IRA assassinated (1979) Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and unsuccessfully tried to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Brighton, England.

In 1994 hopes for peace were raised when the IRA declared a cease-fire. Its legal political arm ( Sinn Féin ) began participating in talks with Britain in 1995, but the party was barred from the mid-1996 negotiations because of renewed terrorist bombings by the IRA. Following the IRA's announcement of a new cease-fire in July, 1997, Sinn Féin was allowed to participate in talks that convened in September of that year and resulted in an accord (Apr., 1998) that provided for a new Northern Ireland Assembly comprised of Protestants and Catholics, and greater cooperation between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Full implementation of the accord snagged for several months on the issue of IRA disarmament, but representatives of Sinn Féin participated in the new Northern Irish government established in Dec., 1999.

Britain suspended the new government in 2000 and again in 2001 over the IRA's refusal to agree to disarm, but in Oct., 2001, the IRA began disarming, albeit in secret. A number of incidents in 2002 that indicated the IRA had not abandoned paramilitary activity again led to the suspension of home rule. More recently, the IRA has been accused of involvement in organized criminal activities, such as bank robbery, extortion, smuggling, and counterfeiting. In July, 2005, the IRA announced it was ending its armed campaign, and an independent report (Sept., 2005) that stated the IRA had decommissioned its weapons was greeted with praise and hope by the British and Irish governments (and with disbelief by hard-line Protestant unionists). In July, 2006, the British and Irish governments indicated that they believed the IRA also had ceased all centrally organized criminal activities, and subsequent independent reports indicated that the IRA had taken steps to end its paramilitary operations.

Bibliography: See M. Dillon, The Dirty War (1990); P. Taylor, Behind the Mask (1998); E. Moloney, A Secret History of the IRA (2002).

Irish Republican Army (IRA) Guerrilla organization dedicated to the reunification of Ireland. Formed in 1919, the IRA waged guerrilla warfare against British rule. Some members (‘irregulars’) rejected the Anglo-Irish settlement of 1921, fighting a civil war until 1923. In 1970, the organization split into an ‘Official’ wing (which emphasized political activities), and a ‘Provisional’ wing (committed to armed struggle). Thereafter, the Provisional IRA became committed to terrorist acts in Northern Ireland and mainland Britain. It declared a cease-fire in 1994, but in 1996 resumed its campaign. Another cease-fire was declared in 1997. The timing of the decommissioning of IRA weapons is a major issue in the peace process.

Irish Republican Army (IRA). The Irish Volunteers, formed in 1913/ and reorganized along conventional military command lines after the Easter Rising, became known as the IRA from 1919. During the Anglo‐Irish War, 1919–21, it became the dominant military arm of the Dáil government. Divided over the Anglo‐Irish treaty of December 1921, the minority formed the Provisional Government/Free State Army, while the majority armed against the new state in the civil war 1922–3. Defeat was implicit in the cease‐fire of April 1923. The raison d'être of the organization remained because of partition and the allegiance to the British crown. The outbreak of violence in Derry and Belfast from 1969 found the movement wanting in its traditional protective role for the catholic minority: graffiti claimed IRA stood for ‘I ran away’. A split occurred between the Belfast‐based traditional nationalist Provisional IRA and the Marxist Official IRA, with the latter shrinking and splintering into smaller republican organizations. The Provisional IRA waged a high‐profile terror campaign, which was instrumental in the collapse of Stormont in 1972 and in power‐sharing initiatives, but it lost support and momentum as a result of an unsuccessful truce 1974/5. Gaining considerable support from the hunger strike crisis of 1981, the movement adopted a more political strategy with Sinn Fein Armalite and ballot policy. The refusal of the IRA to begin effective disarmament jeopardized the peace process in the early 21st cent.