The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) was formed in 1969. The Official IRA declared a cease-fire in the summer of 1972, and subsequently the term IRA began being used for the organization that developed from the 'Provisional' IRA. Organized into small, tightly knit cells under the leadership of the Army Council the IRA has remained largely unchanged. It is difficult to know the exact number of IRA members because of the political and economic persecution that comes with publicly endorsing the IRA. It is estimated that there are several hundred members, plus several thousand sympathizers, but the IRA's strength may have been affected by operatives leaving the organization to join hard-line splinter groups.
The Provisional IRA was the largest of the three republican-armed resistance groups organized under the leadership of the Army Council. The policies of Sinn Fein under the leadership of Gerry Adams from 1994 to 1998 led to a split in the Provisional Irish Republican Army during the fall of 1997. This split resulted in one faction accepting the new Good Friday Agreement and cease-fire and the New or Real IRA continuing armed resistance to British partition. It has been assumed that the IRA acts as a clandestine armed wing of Sinn Fein, a legal political movement dedicated to removing British forces from Northern Ireland and unifying Ireland but a direct terrorist or financial connection between the two groups has yet to be publicly established. The Provisional IRA accepted the cease-fire and has endorsed its affiliates in taking seats in the new Stormont Northern Assembly. In order to maintain an upright appearance the IRA often uses the Direct Action Against Drugs (DAAD) organization as a cover (John Pike, http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/ira.htm).
The IRA and its many splinter groups have claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist activities including bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, punishment beatings, extortion, and robberies. Their targets have included senior British Government officials, British military and police in Northern Ireland, and Northern Irish Loyalist paramilitary groups. Bombing campaigns have been conducted against train and subway stations and shopping areas on mainland Britain, as well as against British and Royal Ulster Constabulary targets in Northern Ireland and a British military facility on the European Continen...
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... at poll and voting stations. Regardless of the means used to locally raise funds the IRA relies on a common bond shared among the Irish people. Their grass roots take on fund raising has come a long way from the days of taking Prisoners of War and holding them for ransom.
The struggle between the British government and Northern Ireland is very much in the forefront of the international political arena. Concerns over resuming peace talks and disarmament of the IRA and its overly zealous splinter groups continue to encourage those involved to make sacrifices in order to reach a common understanding. In an interview with CNN Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams had the following to say in summary of the peace process in Northern Ireland to date. "There are problems," he said. "But it's interesting that, despite all of that, while there isn't the degree of bonding necessary to get rid of all the difficulties, I think there's huge progress made.
"None of us should for one moment underestimate the progress that has been made in the last 10 years," he continued. "We've a long way to go, but we've come a long way."
Bibliography www.fas.org www.cnn.com
They give speculative answers as to possible reasons why, including provocation and gaining support, but they do not go further into the history of the IRA and The Troubles. Using Crenshaw’s model on the Causes of Terrorism (1981), I will look at the varying factors that led to the formation of the PIRA and subsequently the Belfast
In May of 1918 the remainder of the prisoners were released. The shadow government and the Irish Republican Army were established. Eamon DeVelera was the president of the shadow government, and Michael Collins and Harry Boland, his right hand men, are associated with the IRA’s establishment. The IRA performed many rebellious acts towards the British and any Irish spies that they hired. The British felt that something needed to be done but did not have the troops due to the First World War. To work around this they sent in a hand-picked elite group that were called the Black and Tans. An Irish spy that was giving information to the IRA in return for his life informed them of the Black and Tans addresses. They then went and killed many of them. This led to the British calling a truce. (Coogan,”Troubles”,pgs. 35-42)
Irish nationalists planned to take Dublin and all of Ireland by force and rid themselves of the British. On the morning of Monday April 24, 1916, the day after Easter, a force between 1,000 and 1,500 men and women began a rebellion that they hope...
The Effectiveness and Success of Parnell as an Irish Nationalist Leader Parnell was a very influential leader and had campaigned for many different causes but most noticeably he campaigned for land reform within Ireland, this was one of his most noticeable achievements as an Irish Nationalist Leader. Parnell was helped to power by the Land League. This was where the end of the Great Famine within Ireland meant that farmer's incomes fell by a large extent and they demanded the reduction of rents due to this. They demanded this because many farmers could not pay the rents so this meant that landlords evicted them.
British- Irish relations over the past three hundred years have been troubled. There have been many tensions caused by religion in Northern Ireland and Britain's unfair rule of Northern Ireland. The British are guilty of many of the indignities suffered by the Irish people. They are also guilty of causing all of the religious and territorial conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.
What do you think of when you hear the name Ireland? Ireland is a relatively small island off the coast of Great Britain with a land area of 32,424 square miles (Delaney 2). There are several things that you may associate with this country such as St. Patrick’s Day, shamrocks, beer, and strife. The source of the bitterness behind this conflict began centuries ago, when Britain came over and forced Protestantism on the Irish Catholic inhabitants. For this reason there has always been an animosity between the Protestants and the Irish Catholics. The island is broken up into two distinct regions. The Republic of Ireland consists of twenty-six counties, which make up the southern region. This area is predominantly Roman Catholic. Northern Ireland is made up of the six northern counties, which are under British rule and predominately Protestant. Both sides use propaganda to spread their ideas and gain support. They each have organizations, such as the I.R.A., in the south, and the U.V.F., in the north, which use peaceful methods such as newspapers and murals along with violence to fight for their cause. In Northern Ireland the Protestants used their position in the government to spread anti-Catholic propaganda and persecute the Catholic citizens.
...ehind leaders such as Wolf Tone, pledging their support in the form of the United Irishmen. Even though the 1798 Uprising would ultimately fail, this milestone in Irish history had the other citizens of Ireland that the Catholics were willing to lay aside their past differences for the betterment of their nation. This begs the question that will they continue to work together in the future. Based off the past evidence, Protestants and Catholics have little to lose in assisting each other and having Ireland progress into a nation that is one unified completely. What needs to happen though is that each side has to lay out the terms with no outside influence. There can be no ambiguous statements surrounding these terms and officials have to free of bias, as much as a person can be, to effectively write equal terms that ensure economic progress and religious tolerance.
Violence, terror, suffering and death. The conflict that has been burning in Northern Ireland seems to be an unstoppable battle and it has flooded over the land of Northern Ireland. The struggle for power and the persistence of greed have fueled the raging fires of the opposing groups. The conflict in Northern Ireland has been discussed continually over the past few decades. Ever since the beginning of the “Troubles,” organizations have been scavenging to find a plan that will cease the violence. Throughout my research for this project, the questions of what are the main sources of conflict in Northern Ireland and why have they continued today guided me to many fascinating pieces of evidence that provided me with a more compassionate view of the situation of Northern Ireland. My research topic was very broad and to get down into a more explicit viewpoint, I chose to search for my sources by selecting three disciplines.
Irish Republican Army – The IRA held the belief that all of Ireland should be its own independent republic from England. After WWI ended, Irish local started the Irish War for Independence in 1919, where the English eventually settled and made a treaty for the Irish. In 1922 the IRA rejected the Anglo-Saxon Treaty, and fought again for Irish independence, where they were eventually defeated. In the film “The Wind That
Describe and critically assess the impact of the movement for political reform in Ireland from Daniel O'Connell to the fall of Parnell.
Civil War in Ireland in 1914 Introduction The third home rule bill sparked unionism among members. opposed the bill, which in turn brought about Nationalism who sought to protect the property of the owner. These two paramilitary groups brought Ireland to the brink of civil war by 1914. When the Liberals won power in 1906 they tried to keep the Irish question. in the background, ensuring it stayed well down the political agenda.
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republic revolutionary military organization. It came from the Irish volunteers, which were created on November 25, 1913. The Irish volunteers started the Easter Rising in order to end the British Rule in Ireland, leading them to be titled as the Irish Republican Army in January 1919. In 1919, the Irish volunteers became confirmed by Irish Nationalists, Dail Eireann and were recognised as a legitimate army. The IRA raged Guerilla warfare against the British from 1919-1921, creating the Irish War of Independence. The IRA was active from January 1919 to March, 1922, though they are inactive now. The IRA’s main leader was IRA army council. Their headquarters were in Dublin Ireland, but they also operate out the United Kingdom, throughout Ireland, and Northern Ireland. The IRA was funded by extortion, bank robberies, and donations from their descendants. The Irish Republican Army’s main goal was to become independent from Great Britain.
The troubles refer to the age-old disputes over the control of Northern Ireland. Even though the arguments lasted for several centuries, things did not turn extremely violent until the 1960’s (Delaney). Many terrorists entered Northern Ireland during that time. Terrorists who entered the country were said to be okay, and there was nothing wrong with them. Letting the terrorists slip by without stopping them had very deadly consequences. Thousands of people died because of the terrorists invading Northern Ireland. Very few tried to stop the terrorists from coming into Northern Ireland (Graham). Those who did attempt to stop the terrorists were unsuccessful (De Breadun).
The Web. 14 Jan 2011. Allison, Fiona. " The Irish War of Independence 1919-1921." suite101.com.
Many theorists have tried to explain how any why conflicts end. Some theories have proven to be more successful than others. It is difficult to create a theory that applies to all conflicts because each conflict is different. Conflicts can be ethnic and religious based or they can be about resources and territories. William Zartman advocates a theory of ripeness and mutually hurting stalemates to explain how and why conflict have ended. Throughout this essay his theory will be analyze through the conflicts in Northern Ireland, Cambodia and the Oslo agreement. Through these three conflicts the strengths and weaknesses of ripeness theory can be seen