Irish Republican Army Óglaigh na hÉireann | |
|---|---|
 Starry Plough | |
| Founded | 1919 |
| Preceded by | Irish Volunteer Army |
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is the name of several Irish Republican paramilitary groups in Ireland that have existed in various forms since 1919.
History
In 1919, after the founding of the First Dail one year earlier and the beginning of the Irish Revolution against the United Kingdom, the IRA was founded. At that point the IRA was small and poorly equipped, so it relied on guerilla tactics.[1]
After the Anglo-Irish treaty was ratified in 1922, the IRA split between the Pro-Treaty IRA, which later became the military of the Republic of Ireland, and the Anti-Treaty IRA, which maintained its goal of an entirely independent and united Ireland. This split resulted in the Irish Civil War, which ended in 1923.[2]
Following the end of the civil war, the Anti-Treaty IRA, from this point just called the IRA as the Pro-Treaty IRA had been absorbed into Ireland's army, was driven underground and acted sporadically in small, mostly unsuccessful campaigns, such as the S-Plan in 1939 and 2 border campaigns in 1940 and 1956.[3][4]
In 1969, the IRA split again, this time between the Official IRA, a Self-Proclaimed Marxist-Leninist and Irish Republican electoralist group, with its political wing being Official Sinn Fein, later Sinn Fein-Workers party or just The Workers Party which mostly ceased its armed actions in 1974, and the Socialist and Abstentionist Provisional IRA, with its political wing as Provisional Sinn Fein, commonly just called Sinn Fein, which became the largest and most well known iteration of the Irish Republican Army.[5]
1969 was also the year that The Troubles erupted in Northern Ireland, with a violent reaction by Protestants to the Irish Catholic Civil Rights Movement and the subsequent deployment of British troops to Northern Ireland.[6] The Troubles caused the resurgence of the IRA and Republicanism in general, and during this time Socialism and Communism, which has already been part of Republicanism, became inseparable from it.[7]
The Provisional and Official IRA both experienced several splits during this time, first with the Irish National Liberation Army and its political wing the Irish Republican Socialist Party emerging after the Official IRA ceasefire.[8] Then, in 1986 the Republican Sinn Fein and its military wing Continuity IRA split from the Provisional's after Provisional Sinn Fein's adoption of electoralism with the Ballot Box and Armalite strategy.[9]
During the Northern Ireland Peace Talks, the Real IRA, opposed to the talks, began in 1997 with links to Irish Republican political organization 32 County Sovereignty Movement.[10]
Most fighting ceased after the Good Friday agreement, with the Provisional IRA, Official IRA, and INLA ceasing their armed actions and disarming in the following years.[11]
The Continuity IRA and Real IRA continued their armed campaign, but without the international and popular support previously held they were not as strong.[12]
In 2009 Republican Action Against Drugs was founded to combat the growing drug problems in Northern Ireland and especially in Derry.[13]
Also in 2009 Óglaigh na hÉireann split from the Real IRA. The group engaged in armed attacks against Britiah security forces, drug dealers, and former members. It ceased its attacks on security forces in 2017.[14]
The Real IRA and Republican Action Against Drugs merged in 2012 to found the New IRA. The New IRA is affiliated with Saoradh, a revolutionary Socialist political party.[15][16]
In 2017 Arm na Poblachta was founded. The group has engaged in various armed attacks since.[17]
Allies
Many global National Liberation, Socialist, and Communist movements have supported the IRA and Irish Republicanism throughout history. Among them are:
The Soviet Union
Vladimir Lenin supported the Easter Rising and the subsequent Irish Revolution. He also voiced his support and admiration for Irish revolutionary leader and Socialist James Connolly.[1] Later, the Soviet Union provided material support to the Official IRA during the troubles.[2]
Libyan Arab Republic/Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Muammar Gaddafi's Libya played an important role in the arming of the Provisional IRA. Arms Shipments and monetary funding occurred in 1972. In 1986, more advanced weaponry and more money were sent by Libya, including the powerful explosive Semtex and Surface to Air Missiles, both of which became emblematic of the IRA's armed struggle.[3]
Palestinian Resistance Groups
The IRA and Palestinian groups collaborated and mutually supported each other politically. Additionally, groups within the PLO and Irish Republican groups trained together in several locations at different times. At one point, weapons were offered to the IRA by the PLO, but the movement of weapons would have been impossible at that time. Irish Republicans and supporters of Palestinian Resistance to this day have strong ideological ties, and mutual support for both is common.[4]
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia/FARC
The FARC and IRA shared close connections with each other throughout both of their armed campaigns. The two exchanged arms and money and at the time of the IRA disarming the FARC was set to give the IRA between 20 million and 30 million Euros to the IRA in exchange for explosives training.[18] In addition to this, the "Colombia 3" were 3 IRA members who allegedly trained FARC members in using explosives.[19]
Euskadi Ta Askatasuna/ETA
The ETA and Basque National Liberation Movement at large were close allies to the IRA. They supported each other and members of both movements drew comparisons between the two struggles. In addition to this, leaders in the Irish Republican movement visited and publicly expressed support with the Basque people and movement.[20]
Goals
According to the Green Book, the IRA's strategy has five parts:[21]
- A war of attrition to cause as many British casualties as possible
- A bombing campaign to make British investment and financial activities in Ireland unprofitable
- To make the occupied six counties ungovernable except by colonial military rule
- To gain support for Irish republicanism through propaganda and publicity campaigns
- To punish criminals, pro-British collaborators, and informers
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Irish War of Independence". National Army Museum.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 MÍCHEÁL MAC DONNCHA (2022-3-25). "The IRA Convention of March 1922" An Poblacht.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 “Tensions came to a head when the IRA began bombing Britain in early 1939.
Under what was called the Sabotage or S-Plan, British cities including London, Manchester, Birmingham and Coventry were targeted by IRA explosive teams.”
Mike Thomson (2011-3-28). "How De Valera asked UK to smear IRA chief Sean Russell" BBC. - ↑ 4.0 4.1 Matt Treacy (2011). The IRA 1956-69: Rethinking the Republic. [PDF]
- ↑ MÍCHEÁL MAC DONNCHA (2020-1-9). "The Republican Movement split of 1969/1970" An Poblacht.
- ↑ Matt Collins (2020-5-22). "A Movement for Civil Rights Underpinned Republicanism in Northern Ireland" Jacobin.
- ↑ Jim Lane (1989). The Republican Movement and Socialism, 1950-70. [PDF] [MIA]
- ↑ Sean Matgamma (2010-11-21). "Left Wing Urban Guerrillas in Ireland: the Irish National Liberation Army's Bloody Feud and the Saor Eire episode" Workers Liberty.
- ↑ "About Us". Republican Sinn Fein.
- ↑ "Profile: The Real IRA" (2001-8-3). CNN.
- ↑ "About the Good Friday Agreement". Ireland-Department of Affairs.
- ↑ Niall Mulholland (2019-4-28). "Who Are The 'Dissident' Republicans?" International Socialist Archives.
- ↑ "Action Against Drugs threatens criminals" (2019-8-23). Irish Republican News.
- ↑ James Wilson (2017-04-19). "IRA splinter group Óglaigh na hÉireann will lay down their arms" Irish Central.
- ↑ "About us". Saoradh.
- ↑ Paulie Doyle (2019-03-22). "Understanding the 'New IRA', Who Sent Explosives Around the UK" Vice.
- ↑ "Who are Republican Group Arm na Poblachta". Irish News.
- ↑ Conor Lally (2006-1-23). "McDowell says Farc was set to pay IRA €20-30m" Irish Times.
- ↑ Luke Taylor (2022-12-16). "Colombia revokes amnesty it granted to alleged IRA bomb-making trio" The Guardian.
- ↑ Agnes Maillot (2005). Comrades in Arms: Sinn Féin and Basque Separatism.
- ↑ Martin Melaugh (1977). Text of Irish Republican Army (IRA) 'Green Book' (Book I and II): 'Guerrilla Strategy'.