View source for Provisional Irish Republican Army

{{Short description|Paramilitary force active from 1969 to 2005}}
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{{Use Hiberno-English|date=August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox militant organization
| name             = Provisional Irish Republican Army
| image            = Provisional Irish Republican Army Badge.svg
| caption          = A Provisional IRA badge, with the [[Phoenix (mythology)|phoenix]] symbolising the group's origins.
| active           = 1969–2005<br />(on ceasefire from 1997)<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=12.}}</ref>
| leaders          = [[IRA  Army Council]]<ref name="moloneygac">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|pp=377–379.}}</ref>
| active2          = 
| allegiance       = {{flag|Irish Republic}}{{refn|group=n|The Provisional IRA rejected the legitimacy of the [[Republic of Ireland]], instead claiming its Army Council to be the provisional government of the [[Irish Republic|revolutionary Irish Republic]].<ref name="allegiance">{{harvnb|English|2003|p=106.}}</ref>}}<ref name="allegiance"/>
| area             = [[Ireland]],<ref name="extradition">{{harvnb|Mallie|Bishop|1988|pp=433–434.}}</ref> [[England]],<ref name="bowyerbellengland">{{harvnb|Bowyer Bell|2000|p=202.}}</ref> [[Europe]]<ref name="cooganeurope">{{harvnb|Coogan|2000|pp=588–589.}}</ref>
| ideology         = {{plainlist|
* [[Irish republican legitimism]]<ref>{{harvnb|O'Brien|1999|p=21.}}</ref>
* [[Socialism]]<ref name="socialism">{{harvnb|English|2003|p=369.}}</ref>}}
| size             = {{estimation}} 10,000 throughout the Troubles<ref name="moloneyxviii">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=xviii.}}</ref>
| predecessor      = [[Irish Republican Army (1922–69)|Irish Republican Army]] (IRA)
| next             = 
| allies           = {{plainlist|
* [[NORAID]] (Irish Americans)<ref name="cooganlinks">{{harvnb|Coogan|2000|p=436.}}</ref>
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Libya (1977–2011).svg}} [[History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi|Libya]]<ref>{{harvnb|Geraghty|1998|p=180.}}</ref> 
* {{flagdeco|Palestine}} [[PLO]]<ref name="connections">{{harvnb|White|2017|p=392.}}</ref>
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Basque Country.svg}} [[Euskadi Ta Askatasuna|ETA]]<ref name="connections"/>
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the FARC-EP.svg}} [[FARC]]<ref name="connections"/>
}}
| opponents        = {{flagdeco|United Kingdom}} [[United Kingdom]]

* {{Army|United Kingdom}}<ref>{{harvnb|Dillon|1996|p=125.}}</ref>
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.svg|size=23px}} [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]]<ref name="targets">{{harvnb|Tonge|Murray|2005|p=67.}}</ref>
[[Ulster loyalism#Paramilitary and vigilante groups|Ulster loyalist paramilitaries]]<ref>{{harvnb|Bowyer Bell|2000|p=1.}}</ref>
* [[Ulster Volunteer Force]]
* [[Ulster Defence Association]]
| battles          = [[The Troubles]]<ref name="hayes">{{harvnb|Hayes|McAllister|2005|p=602.}}</ref>
| native_name      = {{langx|ga|Óglaigh na hÉireann}}<ref name="constitution">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|pp=602–608.}}</ref>
| native_name_lang = Irish language
}}

The '''Provisional Irish Republican Army''' ('''Provisional IRA'''), officially known as the '''Irish Republican Army''' ('''IRA'''; {{Langx|ga|[[Óglaigh na hÉireann]]}}) and informally known as the '''Provos''', was an [[Irish republican]] [[paramilitary]] force that sought to end British rule in [[Northern Ireland]], facilitate [[Irish reunification]] and bring about an independent republic encompassing all of [[Ireland]]. It was the most active republican paramilitary group during [[the Troubles]]. It argued that the all-island [[Irish Republic]] continued to exist, and it saw itself as that state's army, the sole legitimate successor to the [[original IRA]] from the [[Irish War of Independence]]. It was [[List of designated terrorist groups|designated a terrorist organisation]] in the United Kingdom and an unlawful organisation in the [[Republic of Ireland]], both of whose authority it rejected.

The Provisional IRA emerged in December 1969, due to a split within [[Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)|the previous incarnation of the IRA]] and the broader [[Irish republican movement]]. It was initially the minority faction in the split compared to the [[Official IRA]] but became the dominant faction by 1972. The Troubles [[The Troubles#Late 1960s|had begun]] shortly before when a largely Catholic, nonviolent [[Northern Ireland civil-rights movement (1960s)|civil rights campaign]] was met with violence from both [[Ulster loyalists]] and the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (RUC), culminating in the [[1969 Northern Ireland riots|August 1969 riots]] and [[Operation Banner|deployment of British soldiers]]. The IRA initially focused on defence of Catholic areas, but it began [[Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign|an offensive campaign in 1970]] that was aided by external sources, including [[Irish diaspora]] communities within the [[Anglosphere]], and the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] and Libyan leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]]. It used [[guerrilla]] tactics against the [[British Army]] and RUC in both rural and urban areas, and carried out a bombing campaign in Northern Ireland and England against military, political and economic targets, and British military targets in mainland Europe. They also targeted civilian contractors to the British security forces. The IRA's armed campaign, primarily in Northern Ireland but also in England and mainland Europe, killed over 1,700 people, including roughly 1,000 members of the British security forces and 500–644 civilians.

The Provisional IRA declared a final ceasefire in July 1997, after which its political wing [[Sinn Féin]] was admitted into multi-party peace talks on the future of Northern Ireland. These resulted in the 1998 [[Good Friday Agreement]], and in 2005 the IRA formally ended its armed campaign and [[decommissioning in Northern Ireland|decommissioned its weapons]] under the supervision of the [[Independent International Commission on Decommissioning]]. Several [[splinter group]]s have been formed as a result of splits within the IRA, including the [[Continuity IRA]], which is still active in the [[dissident Irish republican campaign]], and the [[Real IRA]].

== History ==
{{See also|Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign|History of Northern Ireland}}

=== Origins ===
[[File:Easter Proclamation of 1916.png|thumb|The [[Proclamation of the Irish Republic]], issued during the 1916 [[Easter Rising]] against British rule in Ireland]]
The [[Irish Republican Army (1919–1922)|original IRA]] was formed in 1913 as the [[Irish Volunteers]], at a time when all of Ireland was part of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]].<ref name="taylororigins">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=8–10.}}</ref> The Volunteers took part in the [[Easter Rising]] against [[British rule in Ireland|British rule]] in 1916, and the [[Irish War of Independence|War of Independence]] that followed the [[Irish Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] by the revolutionary parliament [[Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic)|Dáil Éireann]] in 1919, during which they came to be known as the IRA.<ref name="taylororigins"/> [[partition of Ireland|Ireland was partitioned]] into [[Southern Ireland (1921–1922)|Southern Ireland]] and [[Northern Ireland]] by the [[Government of Ireland Act 1920]], and following the implementation of the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] in 1922 Southern Ireland, renamed the [[Irish Free State]], became a self-governing [[dominion]] while Northern Ireland chose to remain under [[home rule]] as part of the United Kingdom.{{refn|group=n|The Irish Free State subsequently changed its name to Ireland and in 1949 became a [[sovereign state]] fully independent of the United Kingdom.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=33.}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=13–14.}}</ref> The Treaty caused a split in the IRA, the pro-Treaty IRA were absorbed into the [[National Army (Ireland)|National Army]], which defeated the [[Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)|anti-Treaty IRA]] in the [[Irish Civil War|Civil War]].<ref name="white1921">{{harvnb|White|2017|p=21.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=18.}}</ref> Subsequently, while denying the legitimacy of the Free State, the surviving elements of the anti-Treaty IRA focused on overthrowing the Northern Ireland state and the achievement of a [[united Ireland]], carrying out a [[S-Plan|bombing campaign in England in 1939 and 1940]],<ref>{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2008|pp=53–55.}}</ref> a [[Northern campaign (Irish Republican Army)|campaign in Northern Ireland in the 1940s]],<ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|pp=67–70.}}</ref> and the [[Border campaign (Irish Republican Army)|Border campaign of 1956–1962]].<ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|p=75.}}</ref> Following the failure of the Border campaign, internal debate took place regarding the future of the IRA.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1995|p=72.}}</ref> Chief-of-staff [[Cathal Goulding]] wanted the IRA to adopt a [[socialist]] agenda and become involved in politics, while traditional republicans such as [[Seán Mac Stíofáin]] wanted to increase recruitment and rebuild the IRA.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=23.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=45.}}</ref>

Following partition, Northern Ireland became a [[Dominant-party system|de facto one-party state]] governed by the [[Ulster Unionist Party]] in the [[Parliament of Northern Ireland]], in which Catholics were viewed as [[second-class citizen]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Shanahan|2008|p=12.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Dillon|1990|p=xxxvi.}}</ref> [[Protestant]]s were given preference in jobs and housing, and [[Local government in Northern Ireland|local government constituencies]] were [[gerrymandered]] in places such as [[Derry]].<ref name="tayloruvf">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=29–31.}}</ref> Policing was carried out by the armed [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (RUC) and the [[B-Specials]], both of which were almost exclusively Protestant.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=19.}}</ref> In the mid-1960s tension between the Catholic and Protestant communities was increasing.<ref name="tayloruvf"/> In 1966 Ireland celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising, prompting fears of a renewed IRA campaign.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=27.}}</ref> Feeling under threat, Protestants formed the [[Ulster Volunteer Force]] (UVF), a [[paramilitary]] group which killed three people in May 1966, two of them Catholic men.<ref name="tayloruvf"/> In January 1967 the [[Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association]] (NICRA) was formed by a diverse group of people, including IRA members and liberal [[Unionism in Ireland|unionists]].<ref name="whitecr">{{harvnb|White|2017|pp=47–48.}}</ref> Civil rights marches by NICRA and a similar organisation, [[People's Democracy (Ireland)|People's Democracy]], protesting against discrimination were met by [[counter-protest]]s and violent clashes with [[Ulster loyalist|loyalists]], including the [[Ulster Protestant Volunteers]], a paramilitary group led by [[Ian Paisley]].<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=39–43.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=50.}}</ref>

Marches marking the Ulster Protestant celebration [[The Twelfth]] in July 1969 led to riots and violent clashes in [[Belfast]], Derry and elsewhere.<ref>{{harvnb|Munck|1992|p=224.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=47.}}</ref> The following month a three-day riot began in the Catholic [[Bogside]] area of Derry, following a march by the Protestant [[Apprentice Boys of Derry]].<ref name="taylorbogside">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=49–50.}}</ref> The [[Battle of the Bogside]] caused Catholics in Belfast to riot in [[solidarity]] with the Bogsiders and to try to prevent RUC reinforcements being sent to Derry, sparking retaliation by Protestant mobs.<ref>{{harvnb|Shanahan|2008|p=13.}}</ref> The subsequent [[arson attack]]s, damage to property and intimidation forced 1,505 Catholic families and 315 Protestant families to leave their homes in Belfast in the [[Northern Ireland riots of August 1969]]<ref name="mb117">{{harvnb|Mallie|Bishop|1988|p=117.}}</ref> The riots resulted in 275 buildings being destroyed or requiring major repairs, 83.5% of them occupied by Catholics.<ref name="mb117"/> A number of people were killed on both sides, some by the police, and the British Army were [[Operation Banner|deployed to Northern Ireland]].<ref name="taylor1969">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=49–54.}}</ref> The IRA had been poorly armed and failed to properly defend Catholic areas from Protestant attacks,<ref>{{harvnb|Mallie|Bishop|1988|pp=108–112.}}</ref> which had been considered one of its roles since the 1920s.<ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|p=67.}}</ref> Veteran republicans were critical of Goulding and the IRA's Dublin leadership which, for political reasons, had refused to prepare for aggressive action in advance of the violence.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=60.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Mallie|Bishop|1988|pp=93–94.}}</ref> On 24 August a group including [[Joe Cahill]], [[Seamus Twomey]], [[Dáithí Ó Conaill]], [[Billy McKee]], and [[Jimmy Steele (republican)|Jimmy Steele]] came together in Belfast and decided to remove the pro-Goulding Belfast leadership of [[Billy McMillen]] and [[Jim Sullivan (Irish republican)|Jim Sullivan]] and return to traditional militant republicanism.<ref name="mb125">{{harvnb|Mallie|Bishop|1988|p=125.}}</ref> On 22 September Twomey, McKee, and Steele were among sixteen armed IRA men who confronted the Belfast leadership over the failure to adequately defend Catholic areas.<ref name="mb125"/> A compromise was agreed where McMillen stayed in command, but he was not to have any communication with the IRA's Dublin based leadership.<ref name="mb125"/>

=== 1969 split ===

[[File:Ruairí Ó Brádaigh 2004.jpg|thumb|[[Ruairí Ó Brádaigh]], who was twice [[List of Irish Republican Army chiefs of staff|chief-of-staff]] of the [[Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)|pre-1969 IRA]] during the [[Border campaign (Irish Republican Army)|Border campaign of 1956–1962]], was a member of the first [[IRA Army Council|Army Council]] of the Provisional IRA in 1969.<ref name="mallie137">{{harvnb|Mallie|Bishop|1988|p=137.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|pp=39–40.}}</ref>]]
The IRA split into "Provisional" and [[Official Irish Republican Army|"Official"]] factions in December 1969,<ref name="taylorsplit">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=66–67.}}</ref> after an IRA convention was held in [[Boyle, County Roscommon]], Republic of Ireland.<ref name="white1969gac">{{harvnb|White|2017|pp=64–65.}}</ref><ref name="hanley145">{{harvnb|Hanley|Millar|2010|p=145.}}</ref> The two main issues at the convention were a [[resolution (debate)|resolution]] to enter into a "National Liberation Front" with radical left-wing groups, and a resolution to end [[abstentionism]], which would allow participation in the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British]], [[Dáil Éireann|Irish]], and Northern Ireland parliaments.<ref name="white1969gac"/> Traditional republicans refused to vote on the "National Liberation Front", and it was passed by twenty-nine votes to seven.<ref name="white1969gac"/><ref name="horgantaylor">{{harvnb|Horgan|Taylor|1997|p=152.}}</ref> The traditionalists argued strongly against the ending of abstentionism, and the [[minutes|official minutes]] report the resolution passed by twenty-seven votes to twelve.{{refn|group=n|The vote was a show of hands and the result is disputed.<ref>{{harvnb|Mallie|Bishop|1988|p=136.}}</ref> It has been variously reported as twenty-eight votes to twelve,<ref name="white1969gac"/> or thirty-nine votes to twelve.<ref name="bowyerbell1969">{{harvnb|Bowyer Bell|1997|pp=366–367.}}</ref> The official minutes state out of the forty-six delegates scheduled to attend, thirty-nine were in attendance, and the result of the second vote was twenty-seven votes to twelve.<ref name="horgantaylor"/>}}<ref name="white1969gac"/><ref name="horgantaylor"/>

Following the convention the traditionalists canvassed support throughout Ireland, with IRA director of intelligence Mac Stíofáin meeting the disaffected members of the IRA in Belfast.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=65.}}</ref> Shortly after, the traditionalists held a convention which elected a [[IRA Army Council|"Provisional" Army Council]], composed of Mac Stíofáin, [[Ruairí Ó Brádaigh]], Paddy Mulcahy, Sean Tracey, [[Leo Martin (Irish republican)|Leo Martin]], Ó Conaill, and Cahill.<ref name="mallie137"/> The term provisional was chosen to mirror the 1916 [[Provisional Government of the Irish Republic]],<ref name="white1969gac"/> and also to designate it as temporary pending [[ratification]] by a further IRA convention.{{refn|group=n|Following a convention in September 1970 the "Provisional" Army Council announced that the provisional period had finished, but the name stuck.<ref name="mallie137"/>}}<ref name="mallie137"/><ref>{{harvnb|White|1993|p=52.}}</ref> Nine out of thirteen IRA units in Belfast sided with the "Provisional" Army Council in December 1969, roughly 120 activists and 500 supporters.<ref>{{harvnb|Mallie|Bishop|1988|p=141.}}</ref> The Provisional IRA issued their first public statement on 28 December 1969,<ref name=allegiance/> stating:

<blockquote>We declare our allegiance to the 32 county Irish republic, proclaimed at Easter 1916, established by the first Dáil Éireann in 1919, overthrown by force of arms in 1922 and suppressed to this day by the existing British-imposed six-county and twenty-six-county partition states{{nbsp}}... We call on the Irish people at home and in exile for increased support towards defending our people in the North and the eventual achievement of the full political, social, economic and cultural freedom of Ireland.{{refn|group=n|The Provisional IRA issued all its public statements under the pseudonym "P. O'Neill" of the "Irish Republican Publicity Bureau, Dublin".<ref name=poneill>{{harvnb|BBC News Magazine 2005|ps=.}}</ref> [[Dáithí Ó Conaill]], the IRA's director of publicity, came up with the name.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2006|p=153.}}</ref> According to [[Danny Morrison (Irish republican)|Danny Morrison]], the pseudonym "S. O'Neill" was used during the 1940s.<ref name=poneill/>}}<ref name="bowyerbell1969"/></blockquote>

The Irish republican political party [[Sinn Féin]] split along the same lines on 11 January 1970 in Dublin, when a third of the delegates walked out of the party's highest deliberative body, the [[ard fheis]], in protest at the party leadership's attempt to force through the ending of abstentionism, despite its failure to achieve a two-thirds majority vote of delegates required to change the policy.{{refn|group=n|When the resolution failed to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority to change Sinn Féin policy the leadership announced a resolution recognising the "Official" Army Council, which would only require a [[majority|simple majority]] vote to pass.<ref name="taylorsplit"/> At this point [[Seán Mac Stíofáin]] led the walkout after declaring allegiance to the "Provisional" Army Council.<ref name="taylorsplit"/>}}<ref name="taylorsplit"/> The delegates that walked out reconvened at another venue where Mac Stíofáin, Ó Brádaigh and Mulcahy from the "Provisional" Army Council were elected to the Caretaker Executive of "Provisional" Sinn Féin.{{refn|group=n|The provisional period for "Provisional" Sinn Féin ended at an ard fheis in October 1970, when the Caretaker Executive was dissolved and an [[Ard Chomhairle]] was elected, with [[Ruairí Ó Brádaigh]] becoming [[president of Sinn Féin]].<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|pp=78–79.}}</ref> [[Tomás Mac Giolla]], president of the pre-split Sinn Féin since 1962,<ref>{{harvnb|Feeney|2002|p=219.}}</ref> continued as president of [[Official Sinn Féin]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hanley|Millar|2010|p=482.}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=67.}}</ref> Despite the declared support of that faction of Sinn Féin, the early Provisional IRA avoided political activity, instead relying on [[physical force republicanism]].<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=104–105.}}</ref> £100,000 was donated by the [[Fianna Fáil]]-led [[Irish government]] in 1969 to the Central Citizens Defence Committee in Catholic areas, some of which ended up in the hands of the IRA.<ref name="armstrial"/><ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=265.}}</ref> This resulted in the 1970 [[Arms Crisis]] where criminal charges were pursued against two former government ministers and others including [[John Kelly (Sinn Féin politician)|John Kelly]], an IRA [[Volunteer (Irish republican)|volunteer]] from Belfast.<ref name="armstrial">{{harvnb|English|2003|p=119.}}</ref> The Provisional IRA maintained the principles of the pre-1969 IRA, considering both British rule in Northern Ireland and the government of the [[Republic of Ireland]] to be illegitimate, and the Army Council to be the [[provisional government]] of the all-island [[Irish Republic]].<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=66.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|p=107.}}</ref> This belief was based on a series of [[Irish republican legitimatism|perceived political inheritances]] which constructed a legal continuity from the [[Second Dáil]] of 1921–1922.<ref name="obrien104">{{harvnb|O'Brien|1999|p=104.}}</ref> The IRA recruited many young nationalists from Northern Ireland who had not been involved in the IRA before, but had been radicalised by the violence that broke out in 1969.<ref>{{harvnb|Mallie|Bishop|1988|pp=151–152.}}</ref><ref name="moloney80">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=80.}}</ref> These people became known as "sixty niners", having joined after 1969.{{refn|group=n|The IRA also used "forties men" for volunteers such as [[Joe Cahill]] who fought in the [[Northern campaign (Irish Republican Army)|Northern campaign]],<ref>{{harvnb|Coogan|2000|p=366.}}</ref> and "fifties men" for volunteers who fought in the [[Border campaign (Irish Republican Army)|Border campaign]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bowyer Bell|1990|p=16.}}</ref>}}<ref name="moloney80"/> The IRA adopted the [[Phoenix (mythology)|phoenix]] as the symbol of the Irish republican rebirth in 1969, one of its slogans was "out of the ashes rose the Provisionals", representing the IRA's resurrection from the ashes of burnt-out Catholic areas of Belfast.<ref>{{harvnb|Shanahan|2008|p=14.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Nordstrom|Martin|1992|p=199.}}</ref>

=== Initial phase ===

[[File:Martin McGuinness MLA (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Martin McGuinness]] was part of an IRA delegation which took part in peace talks with British politician [[William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw|William Whitelaw]], the [[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland]], in July 1972.<ref name="taylor1972"/>]]
In January 1970, the Army Council decided to adopt a three-stage strategy; defence of nationalist areas, followed by a combination of defence and retaliation, and finally launching a guerrilla campaign against the British Army.<ref name="english125">{{harvnb|English|2003|p=125.}}</ref> The Official IRA was opposed to such a campaign because they felt it would lead to sectarian conflict, which would defeat their strategy of uniting the workers from both sides of the sectarian divide.<ref>{{harvnb|Sanders|2012|p=62.}}</ref> The Provisional IRA's strategy was to use force to cause the collapse of the [[Government of Northern Ireland (1921–1972)|Northern Ireland government]] and to inflict such heavy casualties on the British Army that the British government would be forced by public opinion to withdraw from Ireland.<ref name="smith9799">{{harvnb|Smith|1995|pp=97–99.}}</ref> Mac Stíofáin decided they would "escalate, escalate and escalate", in what the British Army would later describe as a "classic [[insurgency]]".<ref>{{harvnb|O'Brien|1999|p=119.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Mulroe|2017|p=21.}}</ref> In October 1970 the IRA began a bombing campaign against economic targets; by the end of the year there had been 153 explosions.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1995|p=95.}}</ref> The following year it was responsible for the vast majority of the 1,000 explosions that occurred in Northern Ireland.<ref>{{harvnb|Ó Faoleán|2019|p=53.}}</ref> The strategic aim behind the bombings was to target businesses and commercial premises to deter investment and force the British government to pay compensation, increasing the financial cost of keeping Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom.{{refn|group=n|In the early 1970s insurance companies cancelled [[insurance cover|cover]] for damage caused by bombs in Northern Ireland, so the British government paid compensation.<ref>{{harvnb|Quilligan|2013|p=326.}}</ref>}}<ref name="smith9799"/> The IRA also believed that the bombing campaign would tie down British soldiers in static positions guarding potential targets, preventing their deployment in [[counter-insurgency]] operations.<ref name="smith9799"/> Loyalist paramilitaries, including the UVF, carried out campaigns aimed at thwarting the IRA's aspirations and maintaining the political union with Britain.<ref>{{harvnb|Dingley|2008|p=45.}}</ref> Loyalist paramilitaries tended to target Catholics with no connection to the republican movement, seeking to undermine support for the IRA.{{refn|group=n|This was due to the difficulty in identifying members of the IRA, ease of targeting, and many loyalists believing ordinary Catholics were in league with the IRA.<ref name="shanahanloyalists">{{harvnb|Shanahan|2008|pp=207–208.}}</ref>}}<ref name="shanahanloyalists"/><ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1995|p=118.}}</ref>

As a result of escalating violence, [[Operation Demetrius|internment without trial]] was introduced by the Northern Ireland government on 9 August 1971, with 342 suspects arrested in the first twenty-four hours.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=92.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|p=139.}}</ref> Despite loyalist violence also increasing, all of those arrested were republicans, including [[political activist]]s not associated with the IRA and student civil rights leaders.<ref name="smith1971">{{harvnb|Smith|1995|p=101.}}</ref><ref name="moloneyinternment">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|pp=101–103.}}</ref> The one-sided nature of internment united all Catholics in opposition to the government, and riots broke out in protest across Northern Ireland.<ref name="smith1971"/><ref name="englishinternment">{{harvnb|English|2003|pp=140–141.}}</ref> Twenty-two people were killed in the next three days, including six civilians killed by the British Army as part of the [[Ballymurphy massacre]] on 9 August,<ref name="moloneyinternment"/><ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=83.}}</ref> and in Belfast 7,000 Catholics and 2,000 Protestants were forced from their homes by the rioting.<ref name="moloneyinternment"/> The introduction of internment dramatically increased the level of violence. In the seven months prior to internment 34 people had been killed, 140 people were killed between the introduction of internment and the end of the year, including thirty soldiers and eleven RUC officers.<ref name="smith1971"/><ref name="moloneyinternment"/> Internment boosted IRA recruitment,<ref name="smith1971"/> and in Dublin the [[Taoiseach]], [[Jack Lynch]], abandoned a planned idea to introduce internment in the Republic of Ireland.{{refn|group=n|Internment had been effective during the IRA's [[Border campaign (Irish Republican Army)|Border campaign of 1956–1962]] as it was used on both sides of the Irish border denying the IRA a safe operational base,<ref>{{harvnb|Geraghty|1998|p=43.}}</ref> but due to Lynch cancelling his plans IRA fugitives had a safe haven south of the border due to public sympathy for the IRA's cause.<ref name="moloneyinternment"/> The Republic of Ireland's Extradition Act 1965 contained a [[political offence exception]] that prevented IRA members from being [[extradited]] to Northern Ireland and numerous extradition requests were rejected before [[Dominic McGlinchey]] became the first republican paramilitary to be extradited in 1984.<ref name="extradition"/><ref>{{harvnb|Holland|McDonald|2010|pp=276–277.}}</ref>}}<ref name="moloneyinternment"/> IRA recruitment further increased after [[Bloody Sunday (1972)|Bloody Sunday]] in [[Derry]] on 30 January 1972, when the British Army killed fourteen unarmed civilians during an anti-internment march.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|pp=87–88.}}</ref> Due to the deteriorating security situation in Northern Ireland the British government suspended the Northern Ireland parliament and imposed [[Direct rule (Northern Ireland)|direct rule]] in March 1972.<ref>{{harvnb|Mulroe|2017|pp=129–131.}}</ref> The suspension of the Northern Ireland parliament was a key objective of the IRA, in order to directly involve the British government in Northern Ireland, as the IRA wanted the conflict to be seen as one between Ireland and Britain.<ref name="smith9799"/><ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|pp=127–128.}}</ref> In May 1972 the Official IRA called a ceasefire, leaving the Provisional IRA as the sole active republican paramilitary organisation.{{refn|group=n|In 1974 [[Seamus Costello]], an Official IRA member who led a faction opposed to its ceasefire, was expelled and formed the [[Irish National Liberation Army]].<ref>{{harvnb|Mallie|Bishop|1988|pp=279–280.}}</ref> This organisation remained active until 1994 when it began a "no-first-strike" policy, before declaring a ceasefire in 1998.<ref name="inla">{{harvnb|Holland|McDonald|2010|pp=464–467.}}</ref> Its armed campaign, which caused the deaths of 113 people, was formally ended in October 2009 and in February 2010 it [[decommissioning in Northern Ireland|decommissioned its weapons]].<ref name="inla"/>}}<ref name="sanders">{{harvnb|Sanders|2012|p=53.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=93.}}</ref> New recruits saw the Official IRA as existing for the purpose of defence in contrast to the Provisional IRA as existing for the purpose of attack, increased recruitment and [[defection]]s from the [[Official Irish Republican Army|Official IRA]] to the Provisional IRA led to the latter becoming the dominant organisation.{{refn|group=n|After the Official IRA's ceasefire, the Provisional IRA were typically referred to as simply the IRA.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Leary|2019a|p=61.}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|Feeney|2002|p=270.}}</ref><ref name="sanders"/>

[[File:Birmingham pub bombings plaque Birmingham England.jpg|thumb|Memorial to the victims of the [[Birmingham pub bombings]], which killed twenty-one people in November 1974<ref name="birmingham">{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2008|pp=79–80.}}</ref>]]
On 22 June the IRA announced that a ceasefire would begin at midnight on 26 June, in anticipation of talks with the British government.<ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|p=157.}}</ref> Two days later Ó Brádaigh and Ó Conaill held a [[press conference]] in Dublin to announce the [[Éire Nua]] (New Ireland) policy, which advocated an all-Ireland [[Federation|federal]] republic, with [[devolution|devolved governments]] and parliaments for each of the four historic [[provinces of Ireland]].{{refn|group=n|The Army Council withdrew its support for Éire Nua in 1979.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=363.}}</ref> It remained [[Sinn Féin]] policy until 1982.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|pp=200–201.}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=95.}}</ref><ref name="éirenua">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|pp=181–182.}}</ref> This was designed to deal with the fears of unionists over a united Ireland, an [[Ulster]] parliament with a narrow Protestant majority would provide them with protection for their interests.<ref name="éirenua"/><ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|pp=126–127.}}</ref> The British government held secret talks with the republican leadership on 7 July, with Mac Stíofáin, Ó Conaill, [[Ivor Bell]], Twomey, [[Gerry Adams]], and [[Martin McGuinness]] flying to England to meet a British delegation led by [[William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw|William Whitelaw]].<ref name="taylor1972">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=140–143.}}</ref> Mac Stíofáin made demands including British withdrawal, removal of the British Army from sensitive areas, and a release of republican prisoners and an amnesty for fugitives.<ref name="taylor1972"/> The British refused and the talks broke up, and the IRA's ceasefire ended on 9 July.<ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|p=158.}}</ref> In late 1972 and early 1973 the IRA's leadership was being depleted by arrests on both sides of the Irish border, with Mac Stíofáin, Ó Brádaigh and McGuinness all imprisoned for IRA membership.<ref name="taylorengland">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=152–153.}}</ref> Due to the crisis [[1973 Old Bailey bombing|the IRA bombed London]] in March 1973, as the Army Council believed bombs in England would have a greater impact on British public opinion.<ref name="taylorengland"/><ref name="mcgladdery1970s">{{harvnb|McGladdery|2006|pp=59–61.}}</ref> This was followed by an intense period of IRA activity in England that left forty-five people dead by the end of 1974, including twenty-one civilians killed in the [[Birmingham pub bombings]].<ref name="birmingham"/><ref name="mcgladdery1970s"/>

Following an IRA ceasefire over the Christmas period in 1974 and a further one in January 1975, on 8 February the IRA issued a statement suspending "offensive military action" from six o'clock the following day.<ref name="auto3">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=186.}}</ref><ref name="white1975a">{{harvnb|White|2017|pp=122–123.}}</ref> A series of meetings took place between the IRA's leadership and British government representatives throughout the year, with the IRA being led to believe this was the start of a process of British withdrawal.<ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|p=179.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=190–191.}}</ref> Occasional IRA violence occurred during the ceasefire, with bombs in Belfast, Derry, and South Armagh.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1995|p=132.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=135.}}</ref> The IRA was also involved in [[tit for tat]] sectarian killings of Protestant civilians, in retaliation for sectarian killings by loyalist paramilitaries.<ref name="taylortruce">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=195–196.}}</ref><ref name="moloneyceasefire">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|pp=144–147.}}</ref> By July the Army Council was concerned at the progress of the talks, concluding there was no prospect of a lasting peace without a public declaration by the British government of their intent to withdraw from Ireland.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=193–194.}}</ref> In August there was a gradual return to the armed campaign, and the truce effectively ended on 22 September when the IRA set off 22 bombs across Northern Ireland.<ref name="taylortruce"/><ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=136.}}</ref> The [[wikt:old guard|old guard]] leadership of Ó Brádaigh, Ó Conaill, and McKee were criticised by a younger generation of activists following the ceasefire, and their influence in the IRA slowly declined.<ref>{{harvnb|Mallie|Bishop|1988|p=285.}}</ref><ref name="taylorng">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=197.}}</ref> The younger generation viewed the ceasefire as being disastrous for the IRA, causing the organisation irreparable damage and taking it close to being defeated.<ref name="taylorng"/> The Army Council was accused of falling into a trap that allowed the British breathing space and time to build up [[military intelligence|intelligence]] on the IRA, and McKee was criticised for allowing the IRA to become involved in sectarian killings, as well a feud with the Official IRA in October and November 1975 that left eleven people dead.<ref name="moloneyceasefire"/>

=== The "Long War" ===
<!-- This section header has a redirect to [[Long War (Provisional IRA strategy)]]; if the section head is altered, then alter the redirect. -->
{{See also|1981 Irish hunger strike|Armalite and ballot box strategy}}
[[Image:IRA Resistance Poster.jpg|thumb|right|IRA political poster from the 1980s, featuring a quote from [[Bobby Sands]] written on the first day of the [[1981 hunger strike]]<ref>{{harvnb|Hennessy|2013|p=160.}}</ref>]]

Following the end of the ceasefire, the British government introduced a new three-part strategy to deal with the Troubles; the parts became known as [[Ulsterisation]], normalisation, and criminalisation.<ref name="taylor202">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=202.}}</ref> Ulsterisation involved increasing the role of the locally recruited RUC and [[Ulster Defence Regiment]] (UDR), a part-time element of the British Army, in order to try to contain the conflict inside Northern Ireland and reduce the number of British soldiers recruited from outside of Northern Ireland being killed.<ref name="taylor202"/><ref name="white124">{{harvnb|White|2017|p=124.}}</ref> Normalisation involved the ending of internment without trial and [[Special Category Status]], the latter had been introduced in 1972 following a hunger strike led by McKee.<ref name="white124"/><ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|p=193.}}</ref> Criminalisation was designed to alter public perception of the Troubles, from an insurgency requiring a military solution to a criminal problem requiring a law enforcement solution.<ref name="taylor202"/><ref>{{harvnb|Shanahan|2008|p=225.}}</ref> As result of the withdrawal of Special Category Status, in September 1976 IRA prisoner [[Kieran Nugent]] began the [[blanket protest]] in the [[Maze Prison]], when hundreds of prisoners refused to wear prison uniforms.<ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|p=190.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=203–204.}}</ref>

In 1977 the IRA evolved a new strategy which they called the "Long War", which would remain their strategy for the rest of the Troubles.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=198.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|pp=185–186.}}</ref> This strategy accepted that their campaign would last many years before being successful, and included increased emphasis on political activity through Sinn Féin.<ref name="taylorlw">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=214–215.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1995|pp=146–147.}}</ref> 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{{nbsp}}... Sinn Féin maintains the propaganda war and is the public and political voice of the movement".<ref>{{harvnb|O'Brien|1999|p=128.}}</ref> The 1977 edition of the ''[[The Green Book (IRA training manual)|Green Book]]'', an induction and training manual used by the IRA, describes the strategy of the "Long War" in these terms:

# A war of attrition against enemy personnel [British Army] which is aimed at causing as many casualties and deaths as possible so as to create a demand from their [the British] people at home for their withdrawal.
# 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.
# To make the Six Counties{{nbsp}}... ungovernable except by colonial military rule.
# To sustain the war and gain support for its ends by National and International propaganda and publicity campaigns.
# By defending the war of liberation by punishing criminals, [[Collaborationism|collaborators]] and [[informers]].<ref>{{harvnb|O'Brien|1999|p=23.}}</ref>

The "Long War" saw the IRA's tactics move away from the large bombing campaigns of the early 1970s, in favour of more attacks on members of the security forces.<ref name="smith">{{harvnb|Smith|1995|pp=155–157.}}</ref> The IRA's new multi-faceted strategy saw them begin to use [[armed propaganda]], using the publicity gained from attacks such as the [[assassination of Lord Mountbatten]] and the [[Warrenpoint ambush]] to focus attention on the nationalist community's rejection of British rule.<ref name="smith"/> The IRA aimed to keep Northern Ireland unstable, which would frustrate the British objective of installing a [[power sharing]] government as a solution to the Troubles.<ref name="smith"/>

[[File:Grand-Hotel-Following-Bomb-Attack-1984-10-12.jpg|thumb|Aftermath of the [[Brighton hotel bombing]], an assassination attempt on British prime minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] in 1984<ref name="oppenheimerbrighton"/>]]

The prison protest against criminalisation 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Sanders|2012|p=152.}}</ref> The hunger strike leader [[Bobby Sands]] and [[Anti H-Block]] activist [[Owen Carron]] were successively elected to the British [[House of Commons]], and two other protesting prisoners were elected to Dáil Éireann.<ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|pp=212–213.}}</ref> The electoral successes led to the IRA's armed campaign being pursued in parallel with increased electoral participation by Sinn Féin.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=281.}}</ref> This strategy was known as the "Armalite and ballot box strategy", named after [[Danny Morrison (Irish republican)|Danny Morrison]]'s speech at the 1981 Sinn Féin ard fheis:

<blockquote>Who here really believes that we can win the war through the ballot box? But will anyone here object if with a ballot paper in this hand and an Armalite in this hand we take power in Ireland?<ref>{{harvnb|O'Brien|1999|p=127.}}</ref></blockquote>

Attacks on high-profile political and military targets remained a priority for the IRA.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1995|p=184.}}</ref><ref name="mcgladdery">{{harvnb|McGladdery|2006|p=117.}}</ref> The [[Chelsea Barracks bombing]] in London in October 1981 killed two civilians and injured twenty-three soldiers; a week later the IRA struck again in London with an assassination attempt on Lieutenant General [[Steuart Pringle]], the [[Commandant General Royal Marines]].<ref name="mcgladdery"/> Attacks on military targets in England continued with the [[Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings]] in July 1982, which killed eleven soldiers and injured over fifty people including civilians.<ref>{{harvnb|McGladdery|2006|pp=119–120.}}</ref> In October 1984 they carried out the [[Brighton hotel bombing]], an assassination attempt on British prime minister [[Margaret Thatcher]], whom they blamed for the deaths of the ten hunger strikers.<ref name="oppenheimerbrighton">{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2008|pp=119–120.}}</ref> The bombing killed five members of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] attending a party conference including MP [[Anthony Berry]], with Thatcher narrowly escaping death.<ref name="oppenheimerbrighton"/><ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=252–253.}}</ref> A planned escalation of the England bombing campaign in 1985 was prevented when six IRA volunteers, including [[Martina Anderson]] and the Brighton bomber [[Patrick Magee (Irish republican)|Patrick Magee]], were arrested in Glasgow.<ref name="engdept">{{harvnb|Dillon|1996|pp=220–223.}}</ref> Plans for a major escalation of the campaign in the late 1980s were cancelled after a ship carrying 150 tonnes of weapons donated by Libya was seized off the coast of France.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=246.}}</ref> The plans, modelled on the [[Tet Offensive]] during the [[Vietnam War]], relied on the element of surprise which was lost when the ship's captain informed French authorities of four earlier shipments of weapons, which allowed the British Army to deploy appropriate [[countermeasure]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|pp=20–23.}}</ref> In 1987 the IRA began attacking British military targets in mainland Europe, beginning with the [[1987 Rheindahlen bombing|Rheindahlen bombing]], which was followed by approximately twenty other gun and bomb attacks aimed at [[British Armed Forces]] personnel and bases between 1988 and 1990.<ref name="cooganeurope"/><ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=329.}}</ref>

=== Peace process ===
{{Main|Northern Ireland peace process}}

By the late 1980s, the Troubles were at a military and political stalemate, with the IRA able to prevent the British government imposing a settlement but unable to force their objective of Irish reunification.<ref>{{harvnb|Leahy|2020|p=212.}}</ref> Sinn Féin president Adams was in contact with [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (SDLP) leader [[John Hume]] and a delegation representing the Irish government, in order to find political alternatives to the IRA's campaign.<ref>{{harvnb|Leahy|2020|pp=201–202.}}</ref> As a result of the republican leadership appearing interested in peace, British policy shifted when [[Peter Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville|Peter Brooke]], the [[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland]], began to engage with them hoping for a political settlement.<ref name="niall">{{harvnb|Ó Dochartaigh|2015|pp=210–211.}}</ref> [[Backchannel diplomacy]] between the IRA and British government began in October 1990, with Sinn Féin being given an advance copy of a planned speech by Brooke.<ref>{{harvnb|Dillon|1996|p=307.}}</ref> The speech was given in London the following month, with Brooke stating that the British government would not give in to violence but offering significant political change if violence stopped, ending his statement by saying:

<blockquote>The British government has no selfish, strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland: Our role is to help, enable and encourage {{nbsp}}... Partition is an acknowledgement of reality, not an assertion of national self-interest.{{refn|group=n|Brooke's speech is known as the Whitbread Speech as it was given at the Whitbread Restaurant in London, in front of the British Association of Canned Food Importers & Distributors.<ref name="niall"/><ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=317–318.}}</ref> It is regarded as a key moment in the [[Northern Ireland peace process]].<ref>{{harvnb|Feeney|2002|p=373.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|O'Brien|1999|p=297.}}</ref>}}<ref name="o'brienbrooke">{{harvnb|O'Brien|1999|pp=209–212.}}</ref></blockquote>

[[File:Sniperatwork.jpg|thumbnail|A "Sniper at Work" sign in [[Crossmaglen]]. The IRA's [[South Armagh Brigade]] killed seven members of the security forces in [[South Armagh Sniper (1990–1997)|single-shot sniper attacks]] in 1993.<ref>{{harvnb|Harnden|1999|p=290.}}</ref>]]
The IRA responded to Brooke's speech by declaring a three-day ceasefire over Christmas, the first in fifteen years.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=320.}}</ref> Afterwards the IRA intensified the bombing campaign in England, planting 36 bombs in 1991 and 57 in 1992, up from 15 in 1990.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=264.}}</ref> The [[Baltic Exchange bombing]] in April 1992 killed three people and caused an estimated £800&nbsp;million worth of damage, £200&nbsp;million more than the total damage caused by the Troubles in Northern Ireland up to that point.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=266.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=327.}}</ref> In December 1992 [[Patrick Mayhew]], who had succeeded Brooke as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, gave a speech directed at the IRA in [[Coleraine]], stating that while Irish reunification could be achieved by negotiation, the British government would not give in to violence.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=328.}}</ref> The secret talks between the British government and the IRA via [[intermediaries]] continued, with the British government arguing the IRA would be more likely to achieve its objective through politics than continued violence.{{refn|group=n|[[Denis Bradley]] and [[Brendan Duddy]] were used as intermediaries.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=263.}}</ref> The intermediary would receive messages from a British government representative either face-to-face or by using a safe telephone or [[fax machine]], and would forward the messages to the IRA leadership.<ref name="taylorpeace">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=329–331.}}</ref>}}<ref name="taylorpeace"/> The talks progressed slowly due to continued IRA violence, including the [[Warrington bombings|Warrington bombing]] in March 1993 which killed two children and the [[Bishopsgate bombing]] a month later which killed one person and caused an estimated £1&nbsp;billion worth of damage.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=332–335.}}</ref> In December 1993 a press conference was held at London's [[Downing Street]] by British prime minister [[John Major]] and the Irish Taoiseach [[Albert Reynolds]].<ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=412.}}</ref> They delivered the [[Downing Street Declaration]] which conceded the right of Irish people to [[self-determination]], but with separate referendums in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=342–343.}}</ref> In January 1994 The Army Council voted to reject the declaration, while Sinn Féin asked the British government to clarify certain aspects of the declaration.<ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|pp=417–419.}}</ref> The British government replied saying the declaration spoke for itself, and refused to meet with Sinn Féin unless the IRA called a ceasefire.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=273.}}</ref>

On 31 August 1994, the IRA announced a "complete cessation of military operations" on the understanding that Sinn Féin would be included in political talks for a settlement.<ref>{{harvnb|Tonge|2001|p=168.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1995|p=212.}}</ref> A new strategy known as "TUAS" was revealed to the IRA's rank-and-file following the ceasefire, described as either "Tactical Use of Armed Struggle" to the [[Irish republican movement]] or "Totally Unarmed Strategy" to the broader Irish nationalist movement.<ref name="moloneytuas">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=423.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Leahy|2020|p=221.}}</ref> The strategy involved a coalition including Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Irish government acting in concert to apply leverage to the British government, with the IRA's armed campaign starting and stopping as necessary, and an option to call off the ceasefire if negotiations failed.<ref name="moloneytuas"/> The British government refused to admit Sinn Féin to multi-party talks before the IRA [[decommissioning in Northern Ireland|decommissioned its weapons]], and a standoff began as the IRA refused to disarm before a final peace settlement had been agreed.<ref name="taylorcf">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=349–350.}}</ref> The IRA regarded themselves as being undefeated and decommissioning as an act of surrender, and stated decommissioning had never been mentioned prior to the ceasefire being declared.<ref name="taylorcf"/> In March 1995 Mayhew set out three conditions for Sinn Féin being admitted to multi-party talks.<ref name="taylorcf"/> Firstly the IRA had to be willing to agree to "disarm progressively", secondly a scheme for decommissioning had to be agreed, and finally some weapons had to be decommissioned prior to the talks beginning as a [[confidence building measure]].<ref name="taylorcf"/> The IRA responded with public statements in September calling decommissioning an "unreasonable demand" and a "[[delaying tactic|stalling tactic]]" by the British government.<ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|pp=288–289.}}</ref>

[[File:1996 Docklands bombing plaque.jpg|thumbnail|Memorial to the victims of the [[1996 Docklands bombing]], which killed two people and ended the IRA's seventeen-month ceasefire<ref name="docklands">{{harvnb|Harnden|1999|pp=5–6.}}</ref>]]
On 9 February 1996 a statement from the Army Council was delivered to the Irish national broadcaster [[Raidió Teilifís Éireann]] announcing the end of the ceasefire, and just over 90 minutes later the [[Docklands bombing]] killed two people and caused an estimated £100–150&nbsp;million damage to some of London's more expensive [[commercial property]].<ref name="docklands"/><ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=441.}}</ref> Three weeks later the British and Irish governments issued a joint statement announcing multi-party talks would begin on 10 June, with Sinn Féin excluded unless the IRA called a new ceasefire.<ref name="taylor1996">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=352–353.}}</ref> The IRA's campaign continued with the [[1996 Manchester bombing|Manchester bombing]] on 15 June, which injured over 200 people and caused an estimated £400&nbsp;million of damage to the city centre.<ref>{{harvnb|McGladdery|2006|p=203.}}</ref> Attacks were mostly in England apart from the [[Osnabrück mortar attack]] on a British Army base in Germany.<ref name="taylor1996"/><ref>{{harvnb|Ackerman|2016|p=33.}}</ref> The IRA's first attack in Northern Ireland since the end of the ceasefire was not until October 1996, when the [[Thiepval barracks bombing]] killed a British soldier.<ref name="auto">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=444.}}</ref> In February 1997 an [[South Armagh Sniper (1990–1997)|IRA sniper team]] killed [[Lance Bombardier]] Stephen Restorick, the last British soldier to be killed by the IRA.<ref>{{harvnb|Harnden|1999|p=283.}}</ref>

Following the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|May 1997 UK general election]] Major was replaced as prime minister by [[Tony Blair]] of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]].<ref name="moloney1997">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|pp=457–458.}}</ref> The new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, [[Mo Mowlam]], had announced prior to the election she would be willing to include Sinn Féin in multi-party talks without prior decommissioning of weapons within two months of an IRA ceasefire.<ref name="moloney1997"/> After the IRA declared a new ceasefire in July 1997, Sinn Féin was admitted into multi-party talks, which produced the [[Good Friday Agreement]] in April 1998.<ref name="taylor354">{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=354.}}</ref><ref name="english297">{{harvnb|English|2003|p=297.}}</ref> One aim of the agreement was that all paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland fully disarm by May 2000.<ref>{{harvnb|Cox|Guelke|Stephen|2006|pp=113–114.}}</ref> The IRA began decommissioning in a process that was monitored by Canadian General [[John de Chastelain]]'s [[Independent International Commission on Decommissioning]] (IICD),<ref>{{harvnb|Rowan|2003|pp=36–37.}}</ref> with some weapons being decommissioned on 23 October 2001 and 8 April 2002.<ref>{{harvnb|Cox|Guelke|Stephen|2006|p=165.}}</ref> The October 2001 decommissioning was the first time an Irish republican paramilitary organisation had voluntarily disposed of its arms.{{refn|group=n|After its defeat in the [[Irish Civil War]] in 1923 and at the end of the unsuccessful [[Border campaign (Irish Republican Army)|Border campaign]] in 1962, the [[Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)|IRA]] issued orders to retain weapons, and the [[Official IRA]] also retained its weapons following its 1972 ceasefire.<ref name="boyne403">{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|pp=403–404.}}</ref>}}<ref name="boyne403"/> In October 2002 the devolved [[Northern Ireland Assembly]] was suspended by the British government and direct rule returned, in order to prevent a unionist walkout.{{refn|group=n|The assembly remained suspended until May 2007, when [[Ian Paisley]] of the [[Democratic Unionist Party]] and [[Martin McGuinness]] of [[Sinn Féin]] became [[First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland]].<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=364.}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|Rowan|2003|p=27.}}</ref> This was partly triggered by [[Stormontgate]]—allegations that republican spies were operating within the [[Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland)|Parliament Buildings]] and the [[Police Service of Northern Ireland]] (PSNI){{refn|group=n|In 2001 the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] was reformed and renamed the Police Service of Northern Ireland as a result of the [[Patten Report]].<ref>{{harvnb|Cox|Guelke|Stephen|2006|p=115.}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|Rowan|2003|pp=15–16.}}</ref>—and the IRA temporarily broke off contact with de Chastelain.<ref>{{harvnb|Rowan|2003|p=30.}}</ref> However, further decommissioning took place on 21 October 2003.<ref>{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|p=405.}}</ref> In the aftermath of the December 2004 [[Northern Bank robbery]], the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform [[Michael McDowell (politician)|Michael McDowell]] stated there could be no place in government in either Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland for a party that supported or threatened the use of violence, possessed explosives or firearms, and was involved in criminality.<ref name="boyne">{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|pp=406–407.}}</ref> At the beginning of February 2005, the IRA declared that it was withdrawing a decommissioning offer from late 2004.<ref name="boyne"/> This followed a demand from the [[Democratic Unionist Party]], under Paisley, insisting on photographic evidence of decommissioning.<ref name="boyne"/>

=== End of the armed campaign ===
{{see also|Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions in the 21st century}}
On 28 July 2005, the IRA, with a statement read to the media by [[Séanna Walsh]],<ref name=read>{{cite web |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?188115-1/irish-republican-army-disarmament |title=Irish Republican Army Disarmament |date=28 July 2005 |website=[[C-SPAN]] |access-date=3 August 2022}}</ref> declared an end to the armed campaign, affirming that it would work to achieve its aims solely through peaceful political means and ordering volunteers to end all paramilitary activity.<ref name="boyne408">{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|p=408.}}</ref> The IRA also stated it would complete the process of disarmament as quickly as possible.<ref name="boyne408"/> The IRA invited two independent witnesses to view the secret disarmament work, Catholic priest Father [[Alec Reid]] and Protestant minister Reverend [[Harold Good]].<ref>{{harvnb|Frampton|2009|p=169.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|p=409.}}</ref> On 26 September 2005, the IICD announced that "the totality of the IRA's arsenal" had been decommissioned.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Leary|2019b|pp=236–237.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Shanahan|2008|p=2.}}</ref> [[Jane's Information Group]] estimated that the IRA weaponry decommissioned in September 2005 included:
[[File:Kongsberg AG-3.jpg|thumb|An AG-3, Norwegian made variant of the [[Heckler & Koch G3]]. Over 50 of these, from a batch of 100 stolen from the [[Norwegian Army]], ended up with the IRA.<ref>{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|p=183.}}</ref>]]
[[File:RPG-7 detached.jpg|thumb|The [[RPG-7]], first obtained by the IRA from Libya in 1972<ref>{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|p=137.}}</ref>]]

* 1,000 rifles
* 2 tonnes of the plastic explosive [[Semtex]]
* 20–30 [[heavy machine gun]]s
* 7 [[Man-portable air-defense systems|surface-to-air missiles]]
* 7 [[flamethrower]]s
* 1,200 [[detonator]]s
* 11 [[rocket-propelled grenade]] launchers
* 90 [[handgun]]s
* 100+ [[hand grenade]]s<ref>{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2008|p=347.}}</ref>

Having compared the weapons decommissioned with the British and Irish security forces' estimates of the IRA's arsenal, and because of the IRA's full involvement in the process of decommissioning the weapons, the IICD concluded that all IRA weaponry had been decommissioned.{{refn|group=n|In 1992 [[Colonel Gaddafi]] is understood to have given the British government a detailed inventory of weapons he'd supplied to the IRA.<ref>{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|pp=391–393.}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|p=412.}}</ref> The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, [[Peter Hain]], said he accepted the conclusion of the IICD.<ref>{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|pp=412–413.}}</ref> Since then, there have been occasional claims in the media that the IRA had not decommissioned all of its weaponry.<ref name="boyne414">{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|p=414.}}</ref> In response to such claims, the [[Independent Monitoring Commission]] (IMC) stated in its 10th report that the IRA had decommissioned all weaponry under its control.<ref name="boyne414"/> The report stated that if any weapons had been kept they would have been kept by individuals and against IRA orders.{{refn|group=n|General de Chastelain has also stated weapons might have been lost due to a person responsible for them having died.<ref>{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|p=424.}}</ref> [[Michael McKevitt]], the IRA's quartermaster-general who left to form the [[Real IRA]], was known to have taken [[materiel]] from IRA arm dumps.<ref>{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|p=423.}}</ref>}}<ref name="boyne414"/>

In February 2015, [[Garda Commissioner]] [[Nóirín O'Sullivan]] stated that the Republic of Ireland's police service, the [[Gardaí]], have no evidence that the IRA's military structure remains operational or that the IRA is engaged in criminal activity.<ref>{{harvnb|Campbell|2015|ps=.}}</ref> In August 2015, [[George Hamilton (Northern Ireland police officer)|George Hamilton]], the PSNI [[chief constable]], stated that the IRA no longer exists as a paramilitary organisation.<ref name="psni2015">{{harvnb|Hamilton|2015|ps=.}}</ref> He added that some of its structure remains, but that the group is committed to following a peaceful political path and is not engaged in criminal activity nor directing violence.<ref name="psni2015"/> He pointed out, however, that some of its members have engaged in criminal activity or violence for their own, individual ends.<ref name="psni2015"/> The statement was made in response to the killings of former Belfast IRA commanders Kevin McGuigan and [[Gerard Davison]].<ref name="psni2015"/> McGuigan was shot dead in what was believed to be a [[revenge killing]] by former IRA members over the shooting death three months earlier of Davison.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Leary|2019b|p=275.}}</ref><ref group="n">The PSNI eventually revealed that McGuigan had been "spoken to" by the police as part of the Davison investigation but only "as a potential witness, not a suspect". A 2021 inquest hearing was told that detectives had not considered Mr McGuigan a suspect in Mr Davison's murder, though the inquest's report added that "others" did. McGuigan's son Pearse subsequently insisted that had "the police acted and published the information they have, it would have dispelled the rumours in the community and saved my father's life." See "[https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2022/01/10/news/kevin-mcguigan-s-son-claims-his-father-exonerated-over-gerard-jock-davison-murder-2555709/ Kevin McGuigan's son claims his father 'exonerated' over Gerard 'Jock' Davison murder]", ''[[Irish News]]'', 10 January 2022.</ref> The Chief Constable stated there was no evidence that the killing of McGuigan was sanctioned by the IRA leadership.<ref name="psni2015" /> Also in response, the British government commissioned the [[Assessment on Paramilitary Groups in Northern Ireland]]. The assessment, concluded in October 2015, was that "all the main paramilitary groups operating during [[the Troubles]] are still in existence, including the [[Ulster Volunteer Force]], the [[Red Hand Commando]], the [[Ulster Defence Association]], the Provisional IRA, and [[Irish National Liberation Army]]."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/secretary-of-states-oral-statement-on-assessment-on-paramilitary-groups-in-northern-ireland|title=Secretary of State's oral statement on assessment of paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland|publisher=Northern Ireland Office|author=Theresa Villiers|date=20 October 2015|access-date=24 August 2021|via=gov.uk}}</ref> But, it added, "the leaderships of the main paramilitary groups [including the IRA's] are committed to peaceful means to achieve their political objectives."<ref name="gov.uk">{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/assessment-on-paramilitary-groups-in-northern-ireland|title=Assessment on paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland|date=20 October 2015|publisher=Theresa Villiers|via=gov.uk}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Armstrong|Herbert|Mustad|2019|p=24.}}</ref>

== Weaponry and operations ==
{{Main|Provisional IRA arms importation|List of weapons used by the Provisional Irish Republican Army|Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997|List of chronologies of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions|Barrack buster|Improvised tactical vehicles of the Provisional IRA}}
[[File:Armalite 18-IMG 6519-white.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Armalite AR-18]], obtained by the IRA from the United States in the early 1970s, was a symbol of its armed campaign<ref>{{harvnb|Bowyer Bell|2000|p=183.}}</ref>]]
In the early days of [[the Troubles]] the IRA was poorly armed: in Derry in early 1972 the IRA's weaponry consisted of six [[M1 carbine]]s, two [[Thompson submachine gun]]s, one or two [[M1 Garand]] rifles, and a variety of [[handgun]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2009|p=152.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bowyer Bell|2000|pp=181–182.}}</ref> As a result of black market arms deals and donations from sympathisers, the IRA obtained a large array of weapons such as [[surface-to-air missiles]]; [[M60 machine gun]]s; [[ArmaLite AR-18]], [[FN FAL]], [[AKM]] and [[M16 rifle]]s; [[DShK]] heavy machine guns; [[LPO-50]] flamethrowers; and [[Barrett M90]] sniper rifles.<ref>{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|pp=431–438.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2008|pp=136–141.}}</ref> The IRA also used a variety of bombs during its armed campaign, such as [[car bomb|car and truck bombs]], [[time bomb]]s, and [[booby trap]]s,<ref name="oppenheimer51">{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2008|p=51.}}</ref> using explosives including [[ANFO]] and [[gelignite]] donated by IRA supporters in the Republic of Ireland and the [[plastic explosive]] Semtex donated by the Libyan government.<ref>{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2008|p=185.}}</ref> The IRA's engineering department also manufactured [[Barrack buster|a series of improvised mortars]] in the Republic of Ireland, which by the 1990s were built to a standard comparable to military models.<ref name="moloneygac"/><ref>{{harvnb|Ackerman|2016|p=12.}}</ref> The IRA's development of mortar tactics was a response to the heavy fortifications on RUC and British Army bases; as IRA mortars generally [[indirect fire|fired indirectly]] they were able to bypass some [[perimeter security]] measures.<ref name="mortar">{{harvnb|Dingley|2008|pp=108–111.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Ackerman|2016|pp=14–15.}}</ref> The mortars used a variety of different [[firing mechanism]]s including delay timers, this combined with the disposable nature of the weapons allowed IRA volunteers to reduce the risk of being arrested at the scene.<ref name="mortar"/><ref>{{harvnb|McGladdery|2006|p=177.}}</ref>

The IRA was mainly active in Northern Ireland, although it also attacked targets in England and mainland Europe, and limited activity also took place in the Republic of Ireland.<ref name="bowyerbellengland"/><ref name="cooganeurope"/><ref>{{harvnb|Dingley|2008|p=234.}}</ref> The IRA's offensive campaign mainly targeted the British Army (including the UDR) and the RUC, with British soldiers being the IRA's preferred target.<ref name="targets"/><ref>{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2008|p=117.}}</ref> Other targets included British government officials, politicians, [[The Establishment|establishment]] and [[judicial]] figures, and senior British Army and police officers.<ref>{{harvnb|Dingley|2012|pp=130–131.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|McGladdery|2006|p=77.}}</ref> The bombing campaign principally targeted political, economic and military targets, and was described by counter-terrorism expert [[Andy Oppenheimer]] as "the biggest terrorist bombing campaign in history".<ref>{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2009|p=43.}}</ref> Economic targets included shops, restaurants, hotels, railway stations and other public buildings.<ref name="oppenheimer51"/> The IRA was blamed for the [[Abercorn Restaurant bombing]] in March 1972, when a bomb exploded without warning killing two women and injuring many people.{{refn|group=n|The number of people injured has been variously reported as 70,<ref name="abercorn">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=111.}}</ref> 130,<ref name="bowyerbell87">{{harvnb|Bowyer Bell|1990|p=87.}}</ref> and 136.<ref>{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2008|p=68.}}</ref>}}<ref name="abercorn"/> Due to negative publicity after the Abercorn bombing, the IRA introduced a system of telephoned coded warnings to try to avoid civilian casualties while still causing the intended damage to properties and the economy.{{refn|group=n|IRA bomb warnings included a code word known to the authorities, so it could be determined if a bomb warning was authentic.<ref name="auto2">{{harvnb|Brown|2020|p=55.}}</ref> They were also used when issuing public statements to media organisations.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=361.}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2008|p=301.}}</ref> Civilian deaths were counter-productive to the IRA, as they provided the British with [[propaganda]] coups and affected recruitment and funding.<ref>{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2008|pp=17–18.}}</ref> Despite this IRA bombs continued to kill civilians, generally due to IRA mistakes and incompetence or errors in communication.<ref name="bowyerbell87"/><ref name="coogan1972">{{harvnb|Coogan|2000|pp=381–384.}}</ref> These included the [[Donegall Street bombing]] which killed seven people including four civilians, and [[Bloody Friday (1972)|Bloody Friday]], when nine people, five of them civilians, were killed when twenty-two bombs were planted in a one-mile radius of Belfast city centre.<ref name="coogan1972"/><ref name="auto2"/> Premature explosions were another cause of civilian deaths, such as the [[Remembrance Day bombing]] which killed eleven people including ten civilians,<ref>{{harvnb|Sanders|2012|p=140.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2008|pp=209–210.}}</ref> and the [[Shankill Road bombing]] which killed ten people including eight civilians.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Leary|2019a|p=42.}}</ref>

== Casualties ==
{{for|a detailed breakdown of casualties caused by and inflicted on the IRA|Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997#Casualties}}
[[File:Bogside (18), August 2009.JPG|thumb|Memorial to members of the IRA's [[Derry Brigade]]]]
The IRA was responsible for more deaths than any other organisation during the Troubles.<ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|p=378.}}</ref> Two detailed studies of deaths in the Troubles, the [[Conflict Archive on the Internet]] (CAIN), and the book ''[[Lost Lives]]'', differ slightly on the numbers killed by the IRA and the total number of conflict deaths.<ref name="quillgan"/> According to CAIN, the IRA was responsible for 1,705 deaths, about 48% of the total conflict deaths.<ref>{{harvnb|CAIN: Organisation Responsible for the death.}}</ref> Of these, 1,009 (about 59%) were members or former members of the British security forces, while 508 (about 29%) were civilians.<ref name="crosstabs">{{harvnb|CAIN: Crosstabulations (two-way tables)|ps=: "Organisation" and "Status Summary" as variables.}}</ref> According to ''Lost Lives'', the IRA was responsible for 1,781 deaths, about 47% of the total conflict deaths.<ref name="ll1536">{{harvnb|McKittrick|Kelters|Feeney|Thornton|McVea|2004|p=1536.}}</ref> Of these, 944 (about 53%) were members of the British security forces, while 644 (about 36%) were civilians (including 61 former members of the security forces).<ref name="ll1536"/> The civilian figure also includes civilians employed by British security forces, politicians, members of the judiciary, and alleged criminals and [[informers]].<ref name="ll1536"/> Most of the remainder were loyalist or republican paramilitary members, including over 100 IRA members accidentally killed by their own bombs or shot for being security force agents or informers.<ref>{{harvnb|McKittrick|Kelters|Feeney|Thornton|McVea|2004|pp=1557–1558.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=6.}}</ref> Overall, the IRA was responsible for 87–90% of the total British security force deaths, and 27–30% of the total civilian deaths.<ref name="crosstabs"/><ref name="ll1536"/>

During the IRA's campaign in England it was responsible for at least 488 incidents causing 2,134 injuries and 115 deaths, including 56 civilians and 42 British soldiers.{{refn|group=n|In addition to bombings and occasional gun attacks in England, the IRA also used hoax [[bomb threats]] to disrupt the transport [[infrastructure]].<ref>{{harvnb|McGladdery|2006|p=153.}}</ref> A hoax bomb threat also forced the evacuation of [[Aintree Racecourse]], postponing the [[1997 Grand National]].<ref>{{harvnb|McGladdery|2006|p=207.}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|McGladdery|2006|p=3.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|CAIN: Select and Crosstabulations|ps=: "Geographical Location: Britain", "Organisation" and "Status" as variables.}}</ref> Between 275 and 300 IRA members were killed during the Troubles,<ref name="ll1531">{{harvnb|McKittrick|Kelters|Feeney|Thornton|McVea|2004|p=1531.}}</ref><ref name="suttonstatus">{{harvnb|CAIN: Status of the person killed.}}</ref> with the IRA's biggest loss of life in a single incident being the [[Loughgall ambush]] in 1987, when eight volunteers attempting to bomb a police station were killed by the British Army's [[Special Air Service]].<ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|pp=304–305.}}</ref>

== Structure ==

[[File:PIRAcolourpartyDublin.JPG|thumb|right|Republican colour party in Dublin, March 2009. The blue flag being carried at the front is that of "Dublin Brigade IRA".]]
{{main article|IRA Army Council|IRA Northern Command|IRA Southern Command|Active service unit}}
All levels of the organisation were entitled to send delegates to General Army Conventions.<ref name="moloneygac"/> The convention was the IRA's supreme decision-making authority, and was supposed to meet every two years,<ref name="moloneygac"/> or every four years following a change to the IRA's constitution in 1986.{{refn|group=n|In addition to the scheduled General Army Conventions, the Executive, by a [[majority vote]] of its 12 members, had the power to order an Extraordinary General Army Convention, which would be attended by the delegates of the previous General Army Convention, where possible.<ref name="moloneygac2">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|pp=475–476.}}</ref>}}<ref name="constitution"/> Before 1969 conventions met regularly, but owing to the difficulty in organising such a large gathering of an illegal organisation in secret,{{refn|group=n|Delegates might spend over a day travelling to the General Army Convention, due to the elaborate security and [[countersurveillance]] arrangements.<ref name="gacsecurity"/> Delegates for the 1996 convention had to stop at four locations in order to change vehicles and be scanned for [[covert listening device]]s, and they were not permitted to bring mobile telephones or other electronic devices.<ref name="gacsecurity"/> The convention was guarded by the IRA's [[Internal Security Unit]], who also monitored the local [[Garda Síochána]] station.<ref name="gacsecurity"/> [[Contingency plan|Pre-arranged escape plans]] were in place in case of a [[police raid]].<ref name="gacsecurity"/>}}<ref name="gac"/> while the IRA's armed campaign was ongoing they were only held in September 1970,<ref name="gac">{{harvnb|English|2003|pp=114–115.}}</ref> October 1986,<ref name="gac"/> and October or November 1996.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{harvnb|Rowan|2003|p=96.}}</ref> After the 1997 ceasefire they were held more frequently, and are known to have been held in October 1997,<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=357.}}</ref> May 1998,<ref>{{harvnb|Clarke|Johnston|2001|p=232.}}</ref> December 1998 or early 1999,<ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=518.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Clarke|Johnston|2001|p=237.}}</ref> and June 2002.<ref>{{harvnb|Harding|2002|ps=.}}</ref> The convention elected a 12-member Executive, which selected seven members, usually from within the Executive, to form the Army Council.{{refn|group=n|The Executive and Army Council elected in September 1970 remained in place until 1986, filling vacancies by [[co-option]] when necessary.<ref>{{harvnb|Bowyer Bell|1990|p=13.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|White|1993|p=134.}}</ref>}}<ref name="moloneygac"/><ref name="structure">{{harvnb|O'Brien|1999|p=158.}}</ref> Any vacancies on the Executive would then be filled by substitutes previously elected by the convention.<ref name="moloneygac"/> For day-to-day purposes, authority was vested in the Army Council which, as well as directing policy and taking major tactical decisions, appointed a [[Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army|chief-of-staff]] from one of its number or, less often, from outside its ranks.<ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|p=43.}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{harvnb|Leahy|2020|p=191.}}</ref>

The chief-of-staff would be assisted by an [[adjutant general]] as well as a General Headquarters (GHQ) staff, which consisted of a [[IRA Quartermaster General|quartermaster general]], and directors of finance, engineering, training, intelligence, publicity, operations, and security.<ref name="moloneygac"/><ref name="structure"/> GHQ's largest department, the quartermaster general's, accounted for approximately 20% of the IRA's personnel, and was responsible for acquiring weapons and smuggling them to Ireland where they would be hidden in arms dumps, and distributed them to IRA units as needed.<ref name="moloneygac"/> The next most important department was engineering, which manufactured [[improvised explosive device]]s and improvised mortars.<ref name="moloneygac"/> Below GHQ, the IRA was divided into a Northern Command and a Southern Command.<ref name="structure"/> Northern Command operated in Northern Ireland as well as the [[Irish border|border]] counties of [[County Donegal|Donegal]], [[County Leitrim|Leitrim]], [[County Cavan|Cavan]], [[County Monaghan|Monaghan]], and [[County Louth|Louth]], while Southern Command operated in the remainder of Ireland.<ref name="northerncommand">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=158.}}</ref> In 1977, parallel to the introduction of [[Clandestine cell system|cell structures]] at the local level, command of the "war-zone" was given to the Northern Command, which facilitated coordinated attacks across Northern Ireland and rapid alterations in tactics.<ref name="northerncommand"/> Southern Command consisted of the Dublin Brigade and a number of smaller units in rural areas.<ref name="structure"/> Its main responsibilities were support activities for Northern Command, such as importation and storage of arms, providing [[safe house]]s, raising funds through robberies, and organising [[training camp]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Brien|1999|p=110.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=150.}}</ref> Another department attached to GHQ but separate from all other IRA structures was the England department, responsible for the bombing campaign in England.<ref name="engdept"/><ref name="moloney29">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=29.}}</ref>

The IRA referred to its ordinary members as volunteers (or ''óglaigh'' in Irish), to reflect the IRA being an [[irregular army]] which people were not forced to join and could leave at any time.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=70.}}</ref> Until the late 1970s, IRA volunteers were organised in units based on conventional military structures.<ref>{{harvnb|Coogan|2000|pp=464–465.}}</ref> Volunteers living in one area formed a [[Company (military unit)|company]] as part of a [[battalion]], which could be part of a [[brigade]],<ref>{{harvnb|Leahy|2020|p=85.}}</ref> such as the [[Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade|Belfast Brigade]], [[Derry Brigade]], [[South Armagh Brigade]], and [[East Tyrone Brigade]].<ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=154.}}</ref> In late 1973 the Belfast Brigade restructured, introducing clandestine cells named [[active service unit]]s, consisting of between four and ten members.<ref>{{harvnb|Leahy|2020|p=89.}}</ref> Similar changes were made elsewhere in the IRA by 1977, moving away from the larger conventional military organisational principle owing to its security vulnerability.<ref>{{harvnb|Leahy|2020|p=130.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Coogan|2000|p=465.}}</ref> The old structures were used for support activities such as policing nationalist areas, [[human intelligence (intelligence gathering)|intelligence-gathering]], and hiding weapons,<ref>{{harvnb|Mallie|Bishop|1988|p=322.}}</ref> while the bulk of attacks were carried out by active service units, using weapons controlled by the brigade's [[quartermaster]].<ref name="structure"/> The exception to this reorganisation was the South Armagh Brigade, which retained its traditional hierarchy and battalion structure.<ref name="moloneygac"/> Only a handful of volunteers from the South Armagh Brigade were convicted of serious offences, and it had fewer arrests than any other area, meaning that the security forces struggled to recruit informers.{{refn|group=n|The [[South Armagh Brigade]] did not have similar security problems as other brigades for a variety of reasons.<ref name="leahy187–188">{{harvnb|Leahy|2020|pp=187–188.}}</ref> The locals were familiar with the terrain, in particular potential locations for [[observation post|covert observation posts]] used by soldiers.<ref name="harnden122–125">{{harvnb|Harnden|1999|pp=122–125.}}</ref> Local farmers frequently searched using dogs, and were known to pass on the locations of soldiers to the IRA.<ref name="harnden122–125"/> The small, close-knit communities also made it difficult for undercover soldiers to operate, as unfamiliar people and vehicles were immediately noticed by the locals.<ref name="harnden122–125"/> The brigade also introduced new recruits slowly, training them over a period of several years with more experienced volunteers which built up mutual trust.<ref name="harnden34–35">{{harvnb|Harnden|1999|pp=34–35.}}</ref> This, combined with the brigade's willingness to halt an operation if they feared it was compromised or conditions were not ideal, resulted in few arrests in the area.<ref name="harnden34–35"/> The lack of arrests, as well as IRA volunteers living across the border in the [[Republic of Ireland]], meant it was difficult for the security forces to recruit informers.<ref name="leahy187–188"/>}}<ref name="harnden34–35"/>

== Political ideology ==

[[File:Tommy McKearney (cropped).jpg|thumb|Former IRA volunteer [[Tommy McKearney]], who left the IRA in 1986 and formed the [[League of Communist Republicans]]<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=237.}}</ref>]]
{{Irish republicanism}}
The IRA's goal was an all-Ireland [[democratic socialist]] republic.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=337.}}</ref> [[Richard English]], a professor at [[Queen's University Belfast]], writes that while the IRA's adherence to socialist goals has varied according to time and place, radical ideas, specifically socialist ones, were a key part of IRA thinking.<ref name="socialism"/> Former IRA volunteer [[Tommy McKearney]] states that while the IRA's goal was a socialist republic, there was no coherent analysis or understanding of socialism itself, other than an idea that the details would be worked out following an IRA victory.<ref>{{harvnb|McKearney|2011|p=105.}}</ref> This was in contrast to the Official IRA and the Irish National Liberation Army, both of which adopted clearly defined [[Marxist]] positions.<ref>{{harvnb|Fay|Morrissey|Smyth|1999|pp=14–15.}}</ref> Similarly, the Northern Ireland left-wing politician [[Eamonn McCann]] has remarked that the Provisional IRA was considered a non-socialist IRA compared to the Official IRA.<ref>{{harvnb|McCann|1993|p=299.}}</ref>

During the 1980s, the IRA's commitment to socialism became more solidified as IRA prisoners began to engage with works of political and [[Marxist theory]] by authors such as [[Frantz Fanon]], [[Che Guevara]], [[Antonio Gramsci]], [[Ho-Chi Minh]], and [[General Giap]].<ref name="reinisch">{{harvnb|Reinisch|2018|ps=.}}</ref> Members felt that an Irish version of the Tet Offensive could possibly be the key to victory against the British, pending on the arrival of weapons secured from Libya.<ref name="reinisch"/> However, this never came to pass, and the [[Berlin Wall#Fall of the Berlin Wall|fall of the Berlin wall]] in 1989 brought a dogmatic commitment to socialism back into question, as possible socialist allies in Eastern Europe wilted away.<ref name="reinisch"/> In the years that followed, IRA prisoners began to look towards South African politics and the example being set by the [[African National Congress]].<ref name="reinisch"/> Many of the imprisoned IRA members saw parallels between their own struggle and that of [[Nelson Mandela]] and were encouraged by Mandela's use of compromise following his ascent to power in South Africa to consider compromise themselves.<ref name="reinisch"/>

The Provisionals considered their campaign to be a continuation of events such as the [[Irish revolutionary period]] of 1916–1923, with IRA leader [[Ruairí Ó Brádaigh]] describing their campaign as "the current phase of the age-old Irish republican struggle".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hanley |first1=Brian |title='But then they started all this killing': attitudes to the I.R.A. in the Irish Republic since 1969 |journal=Irish Historical Studies |date=May 2013 |volume=38 |issue=151 |pages=439–56 |doi=10.1017/S0021121400001589 |jstor=43654445 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43654445}}</ref>

== Categorisation ==

The IRA is a proscribed organisation in the United Kingdom under the [[Terrorism Act 2000]],<ref name="ta2000">{{harvnb|Wilson|Rutherford|Storey|Wortley|Kotecha|2020|p=128.}}</ref> and an unlawful organisation in the Republic of Ireland under the Offences Against the State Acts, where IRA volunteers are tried in the non-jury [[Special Criminal Court]].{{refn|group=n|Prior to May 1972 IRA volunteers in the Republic of Ireland were tried in normal courts. The three judge Special Criminal Court was re-introduced following a series of regional court cases where IRA volunteers were acquitted or received light sentences from [[jury nullification|sympathetic juries]] and judges, and also to prevent [[jury tampering]].<ref>{{harvnb|Ó Faoleán|2019|pp=86–88.}}</ref>}}<ref name="conway">{{harvnb|Conway|2015|p=101.}}</ref> A similar system was introduced in Northern Ireland by the [[Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973]], with a [[Diplock court]] consisting of a single judge and no jury.<ref>{{harvnb|Dingley|2008|p=180.}}</ref> The IRA rejected the authority of the courts in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and its [[general order|standing orders]] did not allow volunteers on trial in a criminal court to enter a [[plea]] or recognise the authority of the court, doing so could lead to expulsion from the IRA.{{refn|group=n|There were occasional exceptions to this, there are several instances of female IRA volunteers being permitted to ask for [[bail]] and/or present a defence. This generally happened where the volunteer had children whose father was dead or imprisoned. There are some other cases where male IRA volunteers were permitted to present a defence.<ref name="Ó Faoleán"/>}}<ref name="Ó Faoleán">{{harvnb|Ó Faoleán|2019|pp=135–137.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=56.}}</ref> These orders were relaxed in 1976 due to sentences in the Republic of Ireland for IRA membership being increased from two years to seven years imprisonment.<ref name="Ó Faoleán"/><ref>{{harvnb|Coogan|2000|pp=421–424.}}</ref> IRA prisoners in the UK and the Republic of Ireland were granted conditional early release as part of the Good Friday Agreement.<ref>{{harvnb|Cox|Guelke|Stephen|2006|p=207.}}</ref> IRA members were often refused [[travel visa]]s to enter the United States, due to previous criminal convictions or because the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952|Immigration and Nationality Act]] bars the entry of people who are members of an organisation which advocates the overthrow of a government by force.{{refn|group=n|There were occasional exceptions to this, such as in 1994 when US president [[Bill Clinton]] instructed the [[State Department]] to issue a visa to [[Joe Cahill]], despite his [[criminal record]] including a conviction for the murder of an [[Royal Ulster Constabulary|RUC]] officer in 1942.<ref name="feeney">{{harvnb|Feeney|2002|p=409.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Sanders|2019|p=54.}}</ref> Cahill, who had been banned from entering the US since 1971, was permitted entry to brief [[Irish American]] supporters about the impending IRA ceasefire at a critical point in the [[Northern Ireland peace process]].<ref name="feeney"/><ref name="mcerlath">{{harvnb|McErlath|2000|pp=25–26.}}</ref>}}<ref name="mcerlath"/><ref>{{harvnb|Holland|1989|p=137.}}</ref>

American TV news broadcasts used the terms "activists", "guerrillas", and "terrorists" to describe IRA members, while British TV news broadcasts commonly used the term "terrorists", particularly the [[BBC]] as part of its editorial guidelines published in 1989.<ref>{{harvnb|Aldridge|Hewitt|1994|pp=72–73.}}</ref> Republicans reject the label of terrorism, instead describing the IRA's activity as war, military activity, armed struggle or armed resistance.<ref>{{harvnb|Shanahan|2008|p=4.}}</ref> The IRA prefer the terms [[freedom fighter]], soldier, [[activist]], or volunteer for its members.<ref>{{harvnb|Jackson|Breen Smyth|Gunning|2009|p=142.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hayes|1980|p=77.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|O'Sullivan|1986|p=104.}}</ref> The IRA has also been described as a "[[private army]]".<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=306.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|pp=161–162.}}</ref> The IRA saw the Irish War of Independence as a [[guerrilla war]] which accomplished some of its aims, with some remaining "unfinished business".<ref>{{harvnb|O'Brien|1999|pp=22–23.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Shanahan|2008|p=46.}}</ref>

An internal British Army document written by General Sir [[Mike Jackson (British Army officer)|Mike Jackson]] and two other senior officers was released in 2007 under the [[Freedom of Information Act 2000|Freedom of Information Act]].<ref name="quillgan">{{harvnb|Quilligan|2013|pp=280–282.}}</ref> It examined the British Army's 37 years of deployment in Northern Ireland, and described the IRA as "a professional, dedicated, highly skilled and resilient force", while loyalist paramilitaries and other republican groups were described as "little more than a collection of gangsters".<ref name="quillgan"/>

== Strength and support ==

=== Numerical strength ===

It is unclear how many people joined the IRA during the Troubles, as it did not keep detailed records of personnel.<ref name="moloneyxviii"/> Journalists Eamonn Mallie and Patrick Bishop state 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.<ref name="mallie12">{{harvnb|Mallie|Bishop|1988|p=12.}}</ref> McGuinness, who held a variety of leadership positions,{{refn|group=n|Leadership positions [[Martin McGuinness]] was reported to have held in the IRA include [[officer commanding]] (OC) of the [[Derry Brigade]] (1970–1971), director of operations (1972), OC of [[IRA Northern Command|Northern Command]] (1976), member of the [[IRA Army Council|Army Council]] (1977 onwards), and [[Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army|chief-of-staff]] (late 1970s–1982).<ref>{{harvnb|White|1993|p=140.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=613.}}</ref>}} estimated a total membership of 10,000 over the course of the Troubles.<ref name="moloneyxviii"/> The British Army estimates the IRA had 500 volunteers in July 1971, 130 in Derry and 340 in Belfast,{{refn|group=n|At the same time there were 14,000 [[regular army]] soldiers deployed in Northern Ireland, in addition to 8,000 [[Ulster Defence Regiment]] soldiers and 6,000 [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] officers.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1995|p=102.}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|Leahy|2020|p=34.}}</ref> journalist [[Ed Moloney]] states by the end of the year the IRA in Belfast had over 1,200 volunteers.<ref name="moloneyinternment"/> After the late 1970s restructure,<ref>{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2008|p=31.}}</ref> the British Army estimated the IRA had 500 full-time volunteers.<ref name="english344">{{harvnb|English|2003|p=344.}}</ref> A 1978 British Army report by Brigadier [[James Glover (British Army officer)|James Glover]] stated that the restructured IRA did not require the same number of volunteers as the early 1970s, and that a small number of volunteers could "maintain a disproportionate level of violence".<ref name="taylorlw"/><ref>{{harvnb|Sanders|2012|p=58.}}</ref> Journalist [[Brendan O'Brien (journalist)|Brendan O'Brien]] states by the late 1980s the IRA had roughly 300 active volunteers and 450 more in support roles,<ref>{{harvnb|O'Brien|1999|pp=160–161.}}</ref> while historian Richard English states in 1988 the IRA was believed to have no more than thirty experienced gunmen and bombers, with a further twenty volunteers with less experience and 500 more in support roles.<ref name="english344"/> Moloney estimates in October 1996 the IRA had between 600 and 700 active volunteers.<ref name="gacsecurity">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|pp=445–446.}}</ref>

=== Support from other countries and organisations ===
{{See also|Provisional IRA in the Republic of Ireland|Provisional IRA arms importation}}
[[Image:AKM automatkarbin - 7,62x39mm.jpg|thumb|right|1,200 [[AKM]] assault rifles were donated by [[Muammar Gaddafi]] in the 1980s<ref name="libya2"/>]]
[[Image:Semtex H 1.jpg|thumb|right|Over two tonnes of the plastic explosive Semtex were donated by [[Muammar Gaddafi]] in the 1980s<ref name="libya2"/>]]
Libyan leader Colonel [[Muammar Gaddafi]] was a supplier of arms to the IRA, donating two shipments of arms in the early 1970s,<ref>{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|pp=137–138.}}</ref> and another five in the mid-1980s.<ref name="libya">{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|pp=272–274.}}</ref> The final shipment in 1987 was intercepted by French authorities,<ref name="libya"/> but the prior four shipments included 1,200 AKM [[assault rifle]]s, 26 DShK [[heavy machine gun]]s, 40 [[general-purpose machine gun]]s, 33 [[RPG-7]] rocket launchers, 10 SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles, 10 LPO-50 flamethrowers, and over two tonnes of plastic explosive Semtex.<ref name="libya2">{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|p=436.}}</ref> He also gave $12 million in cash to the IRA.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishcentral.com/news/gaddafi-ira-support-irish-state-papers|title=Libyan leader Gaddafi's IRA support revealed in secret Irish State Papers|author=Paddy Clancy|date=31 December 2021|publisher=Irish Central}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/1228/1267955-state-papers-libya-ira/|title=Extent of Libyan backing for IRA 'shocked' British|author= David McCullagh, Conor McMorrow and Justin McCarthy|date=28 December 2021|publisher=[[RTÉ]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/libya-gaddafi-financial-support-ira-stunned-british-intelligence|title=Libya: Extent of Gaddafi's financial support for IRA stunned British intelligence|date=28 December 2021|publisher=[[Middle East Eye]]}}</ref>

[[Irish Americans]] (both Irish immigrants and natives of Irish descent) also donated weapons and money.<ref name="cooganlinks"/> The financial backbone of IRA support in the United States was the Irish Northern Aid Committee ([[NORAID]]), founded by Irish immigrant and IRA veteran [[Michael Flannery]]. NORAID officially raised money for the families of IRA prisoners but was accused by opponents of being a [[Front organization|front]] for the IRA and being involved in IRA gunrunning.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=84–85.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|pp=421–422.}}</ref> The key IRA transatlantic gunrunning network was run by Irish immigrant and IRA veteran [[George Harrison (Irish republican)|George Harrison]], who estimated to have smuggled 2,000–2,500 weapons and approximately 1 million rounds of ammunition to Ireland.<ref>{{harvnb|Holland|1989|p=112.}}</ref> However, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] arrested Harrison for IRA arms smuggling in June 1981, thereby blocking the IRA's arms supply from America.<ref>{{cite book|last=Holland|first=Jack|date=1 February 2001|title=The American Connection, Revised: U.S. Guns, Money, and Influence in Northern Ireland|publisher=Roberts Rinehart Publishers|page=111|isbn=9-7815-6833-1843}}</ref> This forced the IRA to focus on importing weaponry from its already-established networks in Europe and the Middle East.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27041321|title=The Canadian Dimension to the Northern Ireland Conflict|author1=Andrew Sanders |author2=F. Stuart Ross|date=2020|page=201|journal=The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies|volume=43 |jstor=27041321}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/aia/wilson95.htm#chap9|title=Irish America and the Ulster Conflict 1968–1995|access-date= 27 September 2008|publisher= [[CAIN Web Service]]|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110531024451/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/aia/wilson95.htm#chap9|archive-date = 31 May 2011| url-status = dead}}</ref> In addition, Irish American support for the Republican cause began to weaken in the mid-1970s and gradually diminished in the 1980s due to bad publicity surrounding IRA atrocities and NORAID.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4r06DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA156|title=Counterinsurgency Wars and the Anglo-American Alliance: The Special Relationship on the Rocks|author=Andrew Mumford |year=2017 |author-link=Andrew Mumford (political scientist)|page=156|publisher=[[Georgetown University Press]]|isbn=9-7816-2616-4925}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://tedsmyth.com/Journal%20of%20American%20Ethnic%20History.html|title=Journal of American Ethnic History|author=Ted Smyth|date=Winter 2020}}</ref> By 1998, only $3.6 million were raised in America for the Irish Republican cause,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/sinn-fein-raised-12-million-in-the-united-states-1.2126033|title=Sinn Féin raised $12 million in the United States|author=Pamela Duncan and Simon Carswell|date=5 March 2015|publisher=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref><ref name="BHTYA">{{cite book|author=Gearóid Ó Faoleán|title=A Broad Church: The Provisional IRA in the Republic of Ireland, 1969–1980|date=23 April 2019|page=78|publisher=Merrion Press|isbn=978-1-7853-7245-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Understanding Civil War: Evidence and Analysis · Volume 2|author=Nicholas Sambanis and Paul Collier|date=January 2005 |page=171|publisher=[[World Bank]]|isbn=9-7808-2136-0507}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Understanding Terrorist Finance|author=T. Wittig|pages=154–155|date=26 July 2011|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|isbn=9-7802-3031-6935}}</ref> in which many historians and scholars agreed such an amount was too small to make an actual difference in the conflict.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Donohue |first=Laura K. |date=2006 |title=Anti-Terrorist Finance in the United Kingdom and United States |url=https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1187&context=mjil#page=8 |journal=[[Michigan Journal of International Law|Mich. J. Int'l L.]] |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=303–435 }}</ref><ref name="DWADWD">{{cite report|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmniaf/978/97806.htm|title=Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs – Part One: The continuing threat from paramilitary organisations|date=26 June 2002|website=UK Parliament}}</ref><ref name="BHTYA"/> 

[[Irish Canadians]], [[Irish Australians]], and [[Irish New Zealanders]] were also active in supporting the Republican cause.<ref>{{cite news|date=13 July 1979|title=The army's secret opinion|url=https://www.duncancampbell.org/menu/journalism/newstatesman/newstatesman-1979/the%20army's%20secret%20opinion.pdf#page=2|page=2|publisher=[[New Statesman]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Inside the IRA: Dissident Republicans and the War for Legitimacy|author=Andrew Sanders|date=20 December 2011 |page=105|publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]]|isbn=978-0-7486-8812-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-let-ira-members-slip-through-sources-say/article4154732/|title=Canada let IRA members slip through, sources say|author=Andrew Mitrovica|date=13 October 2001|publisher=[[The Globe and Mail]]}}</ref> More than A$20,000 were sent per year to the Provisionals from supporters in Australia by the 1990s.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Media and the Military|last1=Young|first1=Peter|last2=Jesser|first2=Peter|date=13 October 1997|page=65|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan}}</ref> Canadian supporters did not just fundraise and import weapons,<ref>{{cite book|title=Terrorism in Ireland (RLE: Terrorism & Insurgency)|date=2015|page=20|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|isbn=9-7813-1744-8945}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Canadian Spy Story: Irish Revolutionaries and the Secret Police|author=David A. Wilson|date=30 May 2022|page=243|publisher=[[McGill–Queen's University Press]]|isbn=9-7802-2801-3617}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Bridge in the Parks: The Five Eyes and Cold War Counter-Intelligence|author=Dennis G. Molinaro|page=229|date=2021|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|isbn=9-7814-8752-3718}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Cold Terror: How Canada Nurtures and Exports Terrorism Around the World|author=Stewart Bell|date=28 February 2008|pages=31–32|publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]]|isbn=9-7804-7015-6223}}</ref> but also smuggled IRA and Sinn Féin members into the United States, which, unlike Canada, enacted a visa ban on such members on the basis of advocating violence since the early 1970s. Gearóid Ó Faoleán wrote that "[i]n 1972, inclement weather forced a [[Light aircraft|light aeroplane]] to reroute to [[Shannon Airport]] from [[Farranfore]] in [[County Kerry]], where IRA volunteers had been awaiting its arrival. The plane, piloted by a Canadian [IRA supporter], had flown from Libya with at least one cargo of arms that included RPG-7 rocket launchers" where IRA smuggled these weapons into safe houses for its armed campaign.<ref>{{cite book|author=Gearóid Ó Faoleán|title=A Broad Church: The Provisional IRA in the Republic of Ireland, 1969–1980|date=23 April 2019|page=79|publisher=Merrion Press|isbn=978-1-7853-7245-2}}</ref> In 1974, seven Canadian residents (six who were originally from Belfast) were arrested by the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] for smuggling weapons to the IRA after "raids in [[St. Catharines]], [[East Zorra-Tavistock|Tavistock]] and [[Toronto]] and at the U.S. border at [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]]". Philip Kent, one of those arrested, was discovered in his car for having "fifteen [[L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle|FN rifles]] and a [[.50 calibre machine gun]]".<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27041321|title=The Canadian Dimension to the Northern Ireland Conflict|author1=Andrew Sanders |author2=F. Stuart Ross|date=2020|page=201|journal=The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies|volume=43 |jstor=27041321 }}</ref>

Former [[MI5]] agent Willie Carlin said that one of the main reasons why the IRA Army Council did not attack Scotland during the conflict was because doing so would reduce support from Scots and have a negative impact on its fundraising and other activities there. Carlin explained that "[t]here were politicians in Scotland, a lot of whom were very sympathetic to the nationalist cause, and even the Sinn Fein cause". He also noted that while much of the money was donated by supporters in Glasgow, funds also came from all over the country, from "farmers up there who had family and relatives in Ireland".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17965179.inside-story-ira-never-attacked-scotland/|title=Inside story: Why the IRA never attacked Scotland|author=Neil Mackay|date=12 October 2019|publisher=[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]]}}</ref>

The IRA had links with the [[Basque separatist]] group [[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]].<ref name="cooganlinks"/> [[Maria McGuire]] states the IRA received fifty [[revolver]]s from ETA in exchange for explosives training.<ref name="geraghty">{{harvnb|Geraghty|1998|pp=177–178.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Mallie|Bishop|1988|p=308.}}</ref> In 1973 the IRA was accused by the [[Spanish police]] of providing explosives for the assassination of Spanish prime minister [[Luis Carrero Blanco]] in Madrid, and the following year an ETA spokesman told German magazine ''Der Spiegel'' they had "very good relations" with the IRA.<ref name="cooganlinks"/><ref name="geraghty"/> In 1977 a representative of the Basque political party [[Euskal Iraultzarako Alderdia]] attended Sinn Féin's 1977 ard fheis, and Ó Brádaigh had a close relationship with Basque separatists, regularly visiting the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque region]] between 1977 and 1983.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2006|p=262.}}</ref> The IRA received support from the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) in the 1970s, with volunteers attending training camps in the [[Middle East]].<ref name="cooganlinks"/> In 1977 a shipment of arms from the PLO was seized in [[Antwerp]], Belgium.<ref name="boyneplo">{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|pp=168–171.}}</ref> The shipment included twenty-nine [[AK-47]] assault rifles, twenty-nine French [[submachine gun]]s, seven RPG-7 rocket launchers and sixty rocket-propelled grenades, two [[Bren light machine gun]]s, [[mortar (weapon)|mortars]], [[grenade]]s and ammunition.<ref name="boyneplo"/> PLO leader [[Yasser Arafat]] distanced himself from the IRA following the assassination of Lord Mountbatten in 1979.<ref>{{harvnb|Coogan|2000|p=432.}}</ref>

In May 1996, the [[Federal Security Service]], Russia's internal security service, accused Estonia of arms smuggling, and claimed that the IRA had bought weapons from arms dealers linked to Estonia's volunteer defence force, [[Kaitseliit]].<ref>{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|p=396.}}</ref> In 2001, three Irishmen, known as the [[Colombia Three]], were arrested and accused of training Colombian guerrillas, the [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]] (FARC).<ref>{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2008|p=109.}}</ref><ref name="moloneyfarc">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|pp=511–512.}}</ref> The Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform stated the IRA was to be paid up to $35&nbsp;million to train FARC in bomb-making techniques, including [[shaped charge]]s, [[propane bomb]]s, [[landmine]]s and the construction of mortars.<ref name="moloneyfarc"/><ref name="oppenheimerfarc">{{harvnb|Oppenheimer|2008|pp=346–347.}}</ref> In 2005 a commander in the [[National Army of Colombia]] stated IRA techniques were being used all over Colombia by FARC, and British military experts confirmed bombs used by FARC had previously been used by the IRA.<ref name="oppenheimerfarc"/> The Colombia Three were acquitted at trial in April 2004, before this was reversed at an appeal court in December 2004 although the men had fled the country and returned to Ireland before the appeal court verdict.<ref name="oppenheimerfarc"/>

=== Financing ===
{{Further information|Paramilitary finances in the Troubles}}
While overseas financial support was generally appreciated, the vast majority of the IRA revenue came from activities in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.<ref>{{cite book|author=Gearóid Ó Faoleán|title=A Broad Church: The Provisional IRA in the Republic of Ireland, 1969–1980|date=23 April 2019|page=78 and 101|publisher=Merrion Press|isbn=978-1-7853-7245-2}}</ref> Since the Troubles began, the IRA was involved in criminal activities such as robberies, [[counterfeit]]ing, [[protection racket]]s, kidnapping for ransom, [[fuel laundering]] and [[cigarette smuggling]] in order to fund its armed campaign.<ref name="connelly">{{harvnb|Connelly|2012|p=204.}}</ref><ref name="Dingley 2012 195">{{harvnb|Dingley|2012|p=195.}}</ref> The IRA also raised funds by running legitimate businesses such as taxi firms, nightclubs, offices, and nursing homes.<ref name="connelly"/> British law enforcement estimated that, by the 1990s, the IRA needed £10.5&nbsp;million a year to operate.<ref>{{harvnb|Biersteker|Eckert|Williams|2007|p=137.}}</ref> IRA supporters argue that as it was a clandestine organisation it was forced to use extra legal methods of fundraising, which were justified in order to achieve a political goal.<ref name="connelly"/> However, this activity allowed the British government to portray the IRA as no more than a criminal gang.<ref name="connelly"/> Armed robberies of banks, trains and small businesses across Ireland were a significant source of funding for the IRA, with over 1,000 raids on [[post office]]s in Northern Ireland.<ref>{{harvnb|Bowyer Bell|1997|p=465.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Ó Faoleán|2019|p=102.}}</ref> The PSNI, the IMC, and the British and Irish governments all accused the IRA of involvement in the biggest bank raid in British history—the 2004 Northern Bank robbery—when £26.5&nbsp;million was stolen, which the IRA denied.<ref>{{harvnb|Frampton|2009|pp=158–159.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|O'Leary|2019b|p=242.}}</ref> In April 1987, RUC chief constable John Hermon told government ministers at the [[Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference]] that "[i]t costs the IRA £2-£3 million per year to maintain its activity. That amount is no problem to them and they have no shortage of money to purchase weapons."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/cost-of-running-ira-was-up-to-3m-a-year-in-1980s-1.3333565|title=Cost of running IRA was 'up to £3m a year' in 1980s|author=Brian Hutton|date=29 December 2017|publisher=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref>

The [[Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee]] in its 26 June 2002 report stated that "the importance of overseas donations has been exaggerated and donations from the USA have formed only a small portion of IRA income." It identified [[extortion]], fuel laundering, rum-running, tobacco smuggling, armed robbery, and counterfeiting in Ireland and Britain as the primary sources of funding for both Republican and Loyalist militants throughout and after the Troubles, while "the sums involved [from overseas] [were and] are comparatively small". The committee estimated that the Provisional IRA made £5–8 million a year while spending £1.5m annually to carry out its campaign.<ref name="DWADWD"/> One IRA interviewee stated that starting in the 1970s for example:

<blockquote>Belfast ran itself for years on its [social] clubs. You know the clubs? They formed the clubs, earlier on they formed it and ... the car parks, you know, not building them but taking over areas and running them as car parks. There was no one to say how much you took in and how much you took out and so, you know, if there was twenty-thousand coming in every week you could say there's twelve-thousand coming in and then there's eight-thousand going one way, and you paid your people and say there's so much going every week. And that financed the movement.<ref>{{cite book|author=Gearóid Ó Faoleán|title=A Broad Church: The Provisional IRA in the Republic of Ireland, 1969–1980|date=April 23, 2019|page=78|publisher=Merrion Press|isbn=978-1-7853-7245-2}}</ref></blockquote>

Generally, the IRA was against drug dealing and prostitution, because it would be unpopular within Catholic communities and for moral reasons.<ref>{{harvnb|Dingley|2012|p=197.}}</ref> The chief of the RUC Drugs Squad, Kevin Sheehy, said the IRA tried to prevent volunteers being directly involved with drugs, and noted one occasion when an IRA member caught with a small amount of cannabis was "disowned and humiliated" in his local area.<ref>{{harvnb|Sheehy|2008|p=94.}}</ref> The IRA targeted drug dealers with [[punishment shootings]] and ordered them to leave Ireland, and some were killed using the covername [[Direct Action Against Drugs]].<ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|p=275.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|pp=266–267.}}</ref> However, there are claims the IRA "licensed" certain dealers to operate and forced them to pay protection money.<ref>{{harvnb|Horgan|Taylor|1999|p=29.}}</ref> Following the [[murder of Robert McCartney]] in 2005, the IRA expelled three IRA volunteers.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Leary|2019b|p=243.}}</ref> Adams said at Sinn Féin's 2005 ard fheis "There is no place in republicanism for anyone involved in criminality", while adding "we refuse to criminalise those who break the law in pursuit of legitimate political objectives".<ref>{{harvnb|Frampton|2009|pp=161–162.}}</ref> This was echoed shortly after by an IRA statement issued at Easter, saying that criminality within the ranks would not be tolerated.<ref>{{harvnb|Bean|2007|pp=105–106.}}</ref> In 2008, the IMC stated that the IRA was no longer involved in criminality, but that some members have engaged in criminality for their own ends, without the sanction or support of the IRA.<ref>{{harvnb|Independent Monitoring Commission|2006|pp=10–11.}}</ref>

=== Popular support ===
Support for the IRA within nationalist communities and within the Republic of Ireland has fluctuated over the course of the conflict. In September 1979 the [[Economic and Social Research Institute]] conducted a wide-ranging survey of attitudes to the IRA in the Republic. Its findings showed that 20.7% broadly supported IRA activities, while 60.5% opposed them. Meanwhile, when respondents were asked whether they sympathised or rejected their motives, 44.8% of respondents expressed some level of sympathy with their motives while 33.5% broadly rejected them.<ref>Public Support for Political Violence and Paramilitarism in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland | BERNADETTE C. HAYES & IAN MCALLISTER | 1999 | [https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffpages/uploads/soc207/polviolence.pdf Link] | p=607.</ref>
A study in 1999 showed amongst Catholics in Northern Ireland, 42% of respondents expressed sympathy with republican violence while 52% said they had no sympathy. The same study found 39.7% of respondents in the Republic of Ireland sympathised with republican violence.<ref>ATTITUDES IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND RELEVANT TO THE NORTHERN IRELAND PROBLEM' VOL. I – Descriptive Analysis and Some Comparisons with Attitudes in Northern Ireland and Great Britain | E. E. DAVIS and R. SINNOTT |1979 | [http://www.tara.tcd.ie/bitstream/handle/2262/84097/GRS97.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Link] | p=99.</ref>

According to a 2022 poll, 69% of Irish nationalists polled believe there was no option but "violent resistance to British rule during the Troubles".<ref>{{cite news |last=Breen |first=Suzanne |title=Seven in 10 nationalists agree with Michelle O'Neill that there was 'no alternative' to IRA's campaign of violence, new poll reveals |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/seven-in-10-nationalists-agree-with-michelle-oneill-that-there-was-no-alternative-to-iras-campaign-of-violence-new-poll-reveals/41924287.html |work=Belfast Telegraph |date=19 August 2022}}</ref>

== Other activities ==
=== Sectarian attacks ===
The IRA publicly condemned sectarianism and sectarian attacks, however some IRA members did carry out sectarian attacks.<ref name="english173">{{harvnb|English|2003|p=173.}}</ref> Of those killed by the IRA, Malcolm Sutton classifies 130 (about 7%) of them as sectarian killings of Protestants, 88 of them committed between 1974 and 1976.<ref>{{harvnb|CAIN: Revised and Updated Extracts from Sutton's Book.|ps=.}}</ref> Unlike loyalists, the IRA denied responsibility for sectarian attacks and the members involved used cover names, such as "[[Republican Action Force]]", which was used to claim responsibility for the 1976 [[Kingsmill massacre]] where ten Protestant civilians were killed in a gun attack.<ref>{{harvnb|English|2003|pp=171–172.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|McKittrick|McVea|2012|p=115.}}</ref> They stated that their attacks on Protestants were retaliation for attacks on Catholics.<ref name="english173"/> Many in the IRA opposed these sectarian attacks, but others deemed them effective in preventing similar attacks on Catholics.<ref>{{harvnb|Coogan|2000|p=443.}}</ref> Robert White, a professor at the [[Indiana University]], states the IRA was generally not a sectarian organisation,<ref>{{harvnb|White|1997|pp=20–55.}}</ref> and Rachel Kowalski from the [[Department of War Studies, King's College London|Department of War Studies]], King's College London states that the IRA acted in a way that was mostly blind to religious diversity.<ref>{{harvnb|Kowalski|2018|pp=658–683.}}</ref>

Protestants in the rural border areas of counties [[County Fermanagh|Fermanagh]] and [[County Tyrone|Tyrone]], where the number of members of the security forces killed was high, viewed the IRA's campaign as [[ethnic cleansing]].<ref name="leahysect">{{harvnb|Leahy|2020|p=213.}}</ref> Henry Patterson, a professor at the [[University of Ulster]], concludes that while the IRA's campaign was unavoidably sectarian, it did not amount to ethnic cleansing.<ref>{{harvnb|Patterson|2010|pp=337–356.}}</ref> Although the IRA did not specifically target these people because of their religious affiliation, more Protestants joined the security forces so many people from that community believed the attacks were sectarian.<ref name="leahysect"/> McKearney argues that due to the British government's Ulsterisation policy increasing the role of the locally recruited RUC and UDR, the IRA had no choice but to target them because of their local knowledge, but acknowledges that Protestants viewed this as a sectarian attack on their community.<ref name="leahysect"/><ref>{{harvnb|McKearney|2011|pp=139–140.}}</ref>

=== Vigilantism ===
{{Main|Paramilitary punishment attacks in Northern Ireland}}
[[File:Provo-landOmagh.jpg|200px|thumb|An IRA signpost with the word "Provoland" underneath in [[Omagh]], [[County Tyrone]]]]

During the Troubles, the IRA took on the role of policing in some nationalist areas of Northern Ireland.<ref name="weitzer">{{harvnb|Weitzer|1995|pp=157–158.}}</ref> Many nationalists did not trust the official police force—the RUC—and saw it as biased against their community.<ref name="weitzer"/><ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|2001|p=22.}}</ref> The RUC found it difficult to operate in certain nationalist neighbourhoods and only entered in armoured convoys due to the risk of attack, preventing [[community policing]] that could have occurred if officers patrolled on foot.<ref>{{harvnb|Weitzer|1995|pp=244–245.}}</ref> In these neighbourhoods, many residents expected the IRA to act as a policing force,<ref name="weitzer"/><ref>{{harvnb|Eriksson|2009|pp=39–40.}}</ref> and such policing had propaganda value for the IRA.<ref>{{harvnb|Goodspeed|2001|p=80.}}</ref> The IRA also sought to minimise contact between residents and the RUC, because residents might pass on information or be forced to become a police informer.<ref name="weitzer"/> The IRA set up [[arbitration]] panels that would adjudicate and investigate complaints from locals about criminal or 'anti-social' activities.<ref name="hamill">{{harvnb|Hamill|2010|pp=33–34.}}</ref> First time offenders may have been given a warning, or for more serious offences a [[curfew]] may have been imposed.<ref name="hamill2">{{harvnb|Hamill|2010|pp=68–69.}}</ref> Those responsible for more serious and repeat offences could have been given a punishment beating, or banished from the community.<ref name="hamill2"/> [[Kneecapping]] was also used by the IRA as a form of punishment.<ref>{{harvnb|Hamill|2010|p=74.}}</ref> No punishment attacks have been officially attributed to the IRA since February 2006.<ref>{{harvnb|Sinclair|Antonius|2013|p=149.}}</ref>

The vigilantism of the IRA and other paramilitary organisations has been condemned as "[[Extrajudicial punishment|summary justice]]".<ref>{{harvnb|Kennedy|2020|p=116.}}</ref> In January 1971, the IRA and British Army held secret talks aimed at stopping persistent rioting in [[Ballymurphy, Belfast|Ballymurphy]].<ref name="reed">{{harvnb|Reed|1984|pp=158–159.}}</ref><ref name="moloneyballymurphy">{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=95.}}</ref> It was agreed that the IRA would be responsible for policing there, but the agreement was short-lived.<ref name="reed"/><ref name="moloneyballymurphy"/> During the 1975 ceasefire incident centres were set up across Northern Ireland, staffed by Sinn Féin members who dealt with incidents that might endanger the truce.<ref name="auto3"/> Residents went there to report crime as well as to make complaints about the security forces.<ref name="findlay">{{harvnb|Findlay|1993|p=146.}}</ref> The incident centres were seen by locals as "IRA police stations" and gave some legitimacy to the IRA as a policing force.<ref name="findlay"/> Following the end of the ceasefire the incident centres remained open as Sinn Féin offices where crime continued to be reported, to be dealt with by the IRA.<ref name="hamill"/>

=== Informers ===
Throughout the Troubles, some members of the IRA passed information to the security forces.<ref>{{harvnb|Mallie|Bishop|1988|p=401.}}</ref> In the 1980s, many IRA members were arrested after being implicated by former IRA members known as "[[Supergrass (informer)|supergrasses]]" such as [[Raymond Gilmour]].{{refn|group=n|Thirty-five people implicated by Gilmour were acquitted following a six-month trial in 1984, with [[Lord Lowry]], the [[Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland]], describing Gilmour as a "man to whose lips a lie invariably came more naturally than the truth".<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|p=264.}}</ref> While some convictions were obtained in other supergrass trials, the verdicts were overturned by Northern Ireland's [[Court of Appeal]]. This was due to convictions being based solely on the evidence of dubious witnesses, as most supergrasses were paramilitaries giving evidence in return for a shorter prison sentence or [[immunity from prosecution]].<ref name="leahy">{{harvnb|Leahy|2020|p=124.}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=259–260.}}</ref> There have been some high-profile allegations of senior IRA figures having been British informers.<ref>{{harvnb|Leahy|2020|p=236.}}</ref> In May 2003, an American website named [[Freddie Scappaticci]] as being a British spy code-named [[Stakeknife]].<ref>{{harvnb|Ingram|Harkin|2004|p=241.}}</ref> Scappaticci was said to be a high-level IRA informer working for the British Army's [[Force Research Unit]], while he was head of the IRA's [[Internal Security Unit]], which interrogated and killed suspected informers.<ref name="leahy3">{{harvnb|Leahy|2020|p=2.}}</ref> Scappaticci denied being Stakeknife, and involvement in IRA activity.<ref name="leahy3"/> In December 2005, Sinn Féin member and former IRA volunteer [[Denis Donaldson]] appeared at a press conference in Dublin and confessed to being a British spy since the early 1980s.<ref name="donaldson">{{harvnb|White|2017|p=360.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Boyne|2006|pp=177–178.}}</ref> Donaldson, who ran Sinn Féin's operations in New York during the Northern Ireland peace process, was expelled by the party.<ref name="donaldson"/><ref name="leahy2">{{harvnb|Leahy|2020|p=229.}}</ref> On 4 April 2006, Donaldson was shot dead by the [[Real IRA]] splinter group at his retreat near [[Glenties]] in County Donegal.<ref>{{harvnb|Clancy|2010|p=160.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=377.}}</ref> Other prominent informers include [[Eamon Collins]],<ref name="leahy"/> [[Sean O'Callaghan]],<ref name="auto1"/> and Roy McShane, who worked as a driver for the leadership of Sinn Féin including Adams.<ref name="leahy2"/><ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=361.}}</ref>

The IRA regarded informers as traitors,<ref>{{harvnb|Bowyer Bell|2000|p=250.}}</ref> and a threat to the organisation and lives of its members.<ref>{{harvnb|Bowyer Bell|2000|p=69.}}</ref> Suspected informers were dealt with by the IRA's Internal Security Unit, which carried out an investigation and interrogated the suspects.<ref>{{harvnb|Ingram|Harkin|2004|pp=95–98.}}</ref> Following this a [[court martial]] would take place, consisting of three members of equal or higher rank than the accused, plus a member of GHQ or the Army Council acting as an observer.<ref name="informers">{{harvnb|Taylor|1993|p=153.}}</ref> Any [[death sentence]] would be ratified by the Army Council, who would be informed of the verdict by the observer.<ref name="informers"/> The [[original IRA]], as well as all the major paramilitary organisations active during the Troubles, also killed alleged informers.<ref>{{harvnb|Coogan|2002|p=313.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Grant|2001|p=58.}}</ref> The IRA usually killed informers with a single shot to the head,<ref name="moloney29"/> and left many of their bodies in public to deter other informers.<ref>{{harvnb|Harnden|1999|p=199.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Dempster|2019|p=106.}}</ref> There was also a group of sixteen people known as the [[Disappeared (Northern Ireland)|Disappeared]] who were secretly buried between 1972 and 1985, which included alleged informers, agents for the security forces, and people that stole IRA weapons and used them in armed robberies.{{refn|group=n|One of the Disappeared, Seamus Ruddy, was killed by the [[Irish National Liberation Army]].<ref>{{harvnb|Dempster|2019|p=9.}}</ref>}}<ref name="english160">{{harvnb|English|2003|p=160.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Dempster|2019|p=8.}}</ref> In March 1999 the IRA apologised for the "prolonged anguish" caused to the families of the Disappeared, and stated it had identified the burial places of nine people,<ref>{{harvnb|Rowan|2003|pp=148–149.}}</ref> including the most high-profile victim, [[Jean McConville]], a Catholic civilian and widowed mother-of-ten.<ref name="gillespie">{{harvnb|Gillespie|2009|p=85.}}</ref> This led to the recovery of three bodies later in 1999, although Jean McConville's body was not recovered until August 2003.<ref name="gillespie"/> As of 2019, the bodies of [[Columba McVeigh]], [[Joe Lynskey]], and undercover British Army intelligence officer [[Robert Nairac]] have yet to be recovered.<ref>{{harvnb|Dempster|2019|p=10.}}</ref>

== Splinter groups ==
{{Main|Dissident republicans}}

Former IRA volunteers are involved in various dissident republican [[splinter group]]s, which are active in the low-level [[dissident Irish republican campaign]]. The oldest dissident group is the [[Continuity IRA]], which formed in 1986 following a split in the republican movement, over the decision to allow members, if elected, to take seats in Dáil Éireann.<ref name="horgan1986">{{harvnb|Horgan|2013|p=22.}}</ref> This group was inactive for several years while acquiring weapons and finance,<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1998|pp=361–362.}}</ref> their first attack was in 1994 during the Provisional IRA's first ceasefire.<ref>{{harvnb|Horgan|2013|p=51.}}</ref> The Real IRA was formed in November 1997 when senior Provisional IRA members, including quartermaster-general [[Michael McKevitt]], resigned over acceptance of the [[Mitchell Principles]].{{refn|group=n|The Mitchell Principles were ground rules written by US senator [[George J. Mitchell]] governing the entry of political parties to all-party talks, which included a commitment to non-violence and the decommissioning of weapons.<ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=473.}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|Moloney|2007|p=479.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=297.}}</ref> The Real IRA is best known for the 1998 [[Omagh bombing]] which killed 29 civilians, and the 2009 [[Massereene Barracks shooting]] which killed two British soldiers.<ref>{{harvnb|Horgan|2013|p=28.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=309.}}</ref> In 2005/6 some Provisional IRA members defected and formed [[Óglaigh na hÉireann (Real IRA splinter group)|Óglaigh na hÉireann]], which became active in 2009.<ref name="horganonh">{{harvnb|Horgan|2013|p=36.}}</ref> This group also included former members of the Irish National Liberation Army and a faction that splintered from the Real IRA.<ref name="horganonh"/> In 2011 a group calling itself "the IRA" claimed responsibility for the [[murder of Ronan Kerr]], a Catholic member of the PSNI.<ref name="horganira">{{harvnb|Horgan|2013|pp=37–38.}}</ref> The group was believed to have formed in 2008, and included former senior Provisional IRA members unhappy at Sinn Féin's direction and the peace process.<ref name="horganira"/> Also in 2008, [[Republican Action Against Drugs]] (RAAD) was formed in Derry.<ref name="horganraad">{{harvnb|Horgan|2013|p=39.}}</ref> This vigilante group's membership included former Provisional IRA members and members of other republican groups.<ref name="horganraad"/> RAAD, "the IRA", and some smaller groups merged with the Real IRA in 2012 to form the [[New IRA]].<ref>{{harvnb|White|2017|p=382.}}</ref>

== Notes and references ==
=== Notes ===
{{reflist|group=n}}

=== Citations ===
{{reflist|20em}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin|40em}}
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* {{cite book | last = Reed | first = David | title = Ireland: The Key to the British Revolution | publisher = Larkin Publications | year = 1984 | isbn = 978-0905400044}}
* {{cite web | last = Reinisch | first = Dieter | url = https://me.eui.eu/dieter-reinisch/blog/irish-tet/ | title = Dreaming of an "Irish Tet Offensive": Irish Republican prisoners & the origins of the Peace Process | publisher = [[European University Institute]] | date = 7 September 2018 | access-date = 25 August 2020 }}
* {{cite book | last = Rowan |first = Brian | title = The Armed Peace: Life and Death after the Ceasefires | publisher = [[Mainstream Publishing]] | year = 2003 | isbn = 1-84018-754-9}}
* {{cite book | last = Sanders |first = Andrew | title = Inside The IRA: Dissident Republicans And The War For Legitimacy | publisher = [[Edinburgh University Press]] | year = 2012 | isbn = 978-0-7486-4696-8}}
* {{cite book | last = Sanders |first = Andrew | title = The Long Peace Process: The United States of America and Northern Ireland, 1960-2008 | publisher = [[Liverpool University Press]] | year = 2019 | isbn = 978-1-78694-044-5}}
* {{cite book | last = Shanahan | first = Timothy | author-link = Timothy Shanahan (philosopher) | title = The Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Morality of Terrorism | publisher = [[Edinburgh University Press]] | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0748635306}}
* {{cite book | last = Sheehy | first = Kevin | title = More Questions Than Answers: Reflections on a Life in the RUC | publisher = [[Gill & Macmillan]] | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0717143962}}
* {{cite book | last1 = Sinclair | first1 = Samuel Justin | last2 = Antonius | first2 = Daniel | title = The Political Psychology of Terrorism | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | year = 2013 | isbn = 978-0199925926}}
* {{cite book | last = Smith | first = M.L.R. | title = Fighting for Ireland: The Military Strategy of the Irish Republican Movement | publisher = [[Routledge]] | year = 1995 | isbn = 978-0415091619}}
* {{cite web | last = Sutton | first = Malcolm | ref = {{harvid|CAIN: Crosstabulations (two-way tables)}} | url = http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/crosstabs.html | title = Sutton Index of Deaths: Crosstabulations (two-way tables) | publisher = [[Conflict Archive on the Internet]] | access-date = 7 June 2020 }}
* {{cite web | last = Sutton | first = Malcolm | ref = {{harvid|CAIN: Organisation Responsible for the death.}} | url = http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/tables/Organisation_Responsible.html | title = Sutton Index of Deaths: Organisation responsible for the death | publisher = [[Conflict Archive on the Internet]] | access-date = 7 June 2020 }}
* {{cite web | last = Sutton | first = Malcolm | ref = {{harvid|CAIN: Revised and Updated Extracts from Sutton's Book.}} | url = http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/book/ | title = Revised and Updated Extracts from Sutton's Book | publisher = [[Conflict Archive on the Internet]] | access-date = 25 August 2020 }}
* {{cite web | last = Sutton | first = Malcolm | ref = {{harvid|CAIN: Select and Crosstabulations}} | url = http://cain.ulster.ac.uk/sutton/selecttabs.html | title = Sutton Index of Deaths: Select and Crosstabulations | publisher = [[Conflict Archive on the Internet]] | access-date = 12 June 2020 }}
* {{cite web | last = Sutton | first = Malcolm | ref = {{harvid|CAIN: Status of the person killed.}} | url = http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/tables/Status.html | title = Sutton Index of Deaths: Status of the person killed | publisher = [[Conflict Archive on the Internet]] | access-date = 7 June 2020 }}
* {{cite book | last = Taylor | first = Peter | author-link = Peter Taylor (journalist) | title = States of Terror | publisher = [[BBC]] | year = 1993 | isbn = 0-563-36774-1}}
* {{cite book | last = Taylor | first = Peter | author-link = Peter Taylor (journalist) | title = Provos The IRA & Sinn Féin | publisher = [[Bloomsbury Publishing]] | year = 1998 | isbn = 0-7475-3818-2}}
* {{cite book | last = Taylor | first = Peter | author-link = Peter Taylor (journalist) | title = Brits | url = https://archive.org/details/brits00pete | url-access = registration | publisher = [[Bloomsbury Publishing]] | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-0-7475-5806-4 }}
* {{cite book | last = Tonge | first = Johnathan | author-link = Jonathan Tonge | title = Northern Ireland: Conflict and Change | publisher = [[Routledge]] | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-0582424005}}
* {{cite book | last1 = Tonge |first1 = Johnathan | author-link = Jonathan Tonge | last2 = Murray |first2 = Gerard | title = Sinn Féin and the SDLP: From Alienation to Participation | publisher = [[C. Hurst & Co.]] | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-1-85065-649-4}}
* {{cite book | last = Weitzer | first = Ronald John | author-link = Ronald Weitzer | title = Policing Under Fire: Ethnic Conflict and Police-Community Relations in Northern Ireland | url = https://archive.org/details/policingunderfir0000weit | url-access = registration | publisher = [[State University of New York Press]] | year = 1995 | isbn = 079142247X }}
* {{cite book | last = White | first = Robert | title = Provisional Irish Republicans: An Oral and Interpretive History | publisher = [[Praeger Publishing]] | year = 1993 | isbn = 978-0313285646}}
* {{cite journal | last = White | first = Robert | year = 1997 | title = The Irish Republican Army: An assessment of sectarianism | journal = [[Terrorism and Political Violence]] | volume = 9 | issue = 1 | pages = 20–55 | doi = 10.1080/09546559708427385}}
* {{cite book | last = White | first = Robert | title = Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary | publisher = [[Indiana University Press]] | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-0253347084}}
* {{cite book | last = White | first = Robert | title = Out of the Ashes: An Oral History of the Provisional Irish Republican Movement | publisher = [[Irish Academic Press#Merrion Press|Merrion Press]] | year = 2017 | isbn = 9781785370939}}
* {{cite book | last1 = Wilson | first1 = Steve | last2 = Rutherford | first2 = Helen | last3 = Storey | first3 = Tony | last4 = Wortley | first4 = Natalie | last5 = Kotecha | first5 = Birju | title = English Legal System | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | year = 2020 | isbn = 978-0198853800}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Provisional Irish Republican Army}}
* [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/organ/ira/statements.htm CAIN (Conflict Archive Internet) Archive of IRA statements]
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ira/ ''Behind the Mask: The IRA & Sinn Fein'']—[[PBS]] ''[[Frontline (American TV program)|Frontline]]'' documentary on the subject
* [https://archive.today/20121214182616/http://repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/552676 The IRA and American funding] from the [[Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives]]
* [[J. Bowyer Bell|Bell, J. Bowyer]]. "[http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08850609508435269 Dragonworld (II): Deception, Tradecraft, and the Provisional IRA]". ''[[International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence]]''. Volume 8, No. 1., Spring 1995. pp.&nbsp;21–50. Published online 9 January 2008. Also [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233361040_Dragonworld_%28II%29_Deception_tradecraft_and_the_provisional_IRA available at] [[ResearchGate]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926091152/http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/misc/opbanner.pdf "Operation Banner: An analysis of military operations in Northern Ireland"]

{{PIRA}}
{{IRAs}}
{{The Troubles|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Provisional Irish Republican Army| ]]
[[Category:1969 establishments in Ireland]]
[[Category:1969 establishments in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Irish republican militant groups]]
[[Category:Military wings of political parties]]
[[Category:National liberation armies]]
[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by the United Kingdom]]

[[Category:Organizations based in Europe designated as terrorist]]
[[Category:Proscribed paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland]]