The Irish Republican Army Kevin White, SAC DIP INTRODUCTION 3 GROUP ORIGINS 3 AIMS AND IDEOLOGY 4 STRUCTURE 4 LEADERSHIP 6 STRATEGIES 7 THE IMPACT OF THE IRA 9 THE FUTURE OF THE IRA 9 BIBLIOGRAPHY 11 2 Introduction The Irish Republican Army (IRA) was a revolutionary military organization with its roots in Ireland’s 20th century quest for national independence from Great Britain. The organisation descended from a number of pre-existing organisations, most notably the Irish volunteers and the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). The Irish volunteers were a pre-existing military organisation In Ireland that emerged during the First World War. During the First World War, some were sceptical of the British government’s promise to grant Irish independence if they aided in the war effort, and so formed a splinter group. This splinter group was largely controlled by the IRB which had been seeking to instigate rebellion against British rule since the mid-19th century. Group Origins The first organised attack against sovereign rule was led by the Irish Volunteers in 1916, and known as ‘The Easter Rising.’ Initially the event proved unpopular with the people because it resulted in civilian casualties, but public support changed after sixteen of its leaders were publicly executed. Sympathizers took pity on young men who had lost their lives and united an anger towards those who had took it. New recruits were enlisted into this militia and the name IRA was coined. The IRA waged guerrilla war against the British Government and its forces in Ireland lasting from 1919-1921; commonly referred to as the Irish war of independence. Following the Irish war of independence, the Anglo-Irish treaty was signed and an Irish free state was formed; a compromise by the IRA, led by Michael Collins at the time. Specifically, in exchange for its independence, the IRA had agreed to allow Ireland's 6 northern counties (known as Northern Ireland) to remain under British rule. While Collins and others seen this compromise as a stepping stone to achieve freedom, others believed that Collins had ‘sold out ‘to the British government and abandoned their groups central aim. This controversy sparked a war between the majority of IRA members that were for the treaty, the Irish National army and the minority (led by de Valera) who opposed it. Those opposed to the treaty refused to recognise its legitimacy of the governments of both Ireland and Northern Ireland and continued using the name Irish Republican army. This new splinter group continued to exist for another 40 years. During their existence attacks from the organization become less frequent, tensions rose, and in 1969 the two 3 groups evolved into the Official IRA (now opposed to an armed campaign) and the Provisional IRA (PIRA) who vowed to continue the use of violence for unification. In the early 1960’s PIRA gained little public support with the violent methods used in their campaign, this included sniper attacks, assassinations and bombings within the province. But public support changed in 1972 when, during a public demonstration, British troops were involved in a controversial shooting at a public demonstration resulting in the deaths of fourteen unarmed civilians. This event was a PR disaster and caused public outrage, the IRA capitalized from this by launching a propaganda campaign. This helped recruit new members into its cause. During this time, the IRA gained financial sponsorship from Irish- Americans and had open trading routes for its arms coming in from Libya. The Provisional IRA continued in their campaign of violence for the next 35 years before declaring a ceasefire on all violent operations in July 2005. Thereafter 2 splinter groups formed; The Continuity IRA (CIRA) in 1986 as result of the Provisional’s new found recognition of the authority of the Republic of Ireland and The Real IRA (RIRA) in 1997 made up of former PIRA members whom opposed the peace process that was taking place. Aims and ideology The overall goal of the IRA was to unite the 32 counties in Ireland into a single Irish state independent from Great Britain. There were several divides in the IRA since its evolution, some abandoned the use of violence and sought to win unification politically. Although historically they all started out as an organization that believed a war of attrition was the most effective strategy. Structure The General Army Convention (GAC) is the supreme authority of the IRA selected by various units within the organization. The GAC selects a 12-member Army Executive whose key role is to advise the Army Council on all matters concerning the IRA. The Army council had overall command when the GAC is not in session and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the organization which include; directing policy and making major tactical decisions1. 1 Kathryn Gregory (16.03.2010) Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) 2 Sean Boyne (01.08.1996) Uncovering the Irish Republican Army 4 The planning and implementation of Army Council decisions was carried out by the General Headquarters (GHQ) Staff. These acted as the link between the council Northern and Southern commands. The Northern Command had 5 brigades covering 11 counties in Northern Ireland and bordering counties, while the Southern Command covers the remaining 21 –spread lightly over the Republic.2 Each command had its own commanding officer (CO), director of operations and quartermaster. The operational arm consisted of cells known as Active Service Units (ASUs) each with five to eight members (and sometimes more). The Army council appoints a Chief of Staff, an adjutant general, and a General Headquarters (GHQ) made up of several other departments: • Quartermaster General (responsible for obtaining and concealing weapons) • Director of Finance (including the financial health and sponsorship) • Director of Engineering (perfecting bomb/timers/detonator skills etc.) • Director of Training • Director of Intelligence 2 Provisional Irish Republican Army [online] Available from - www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_Irish_Republican_Army [Accessed 01.06.2011] 5 • Director of Publicity • Director of Operations Leadership The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)3 list 4 key leaders that played a significant part in the organizations’ development: Sean MacStiofain, John Kelly, Thomas Murphy and Bobby Sands. Sean MacStiofain was a key player during the 1969 formation of the Provisional IRA. MacStiofain was at the forefront of the split between the Official IRA and the Provisional’s and become the newly formed organizations’ first chief of staff. He mastered the art of propaganda techniques and was responsible for the IRA’s press conferences. In 1972, MacStiofain travelled to London for IRA delegation talks. Shortly after the talks MacStiofain ordered an increase of the IRA’s campaign, including the “Black Friday,” attack where 22 car bombs detonated simultaneously across the province. John Kelly was another key player in the IRA leadership, responsible for arming the Provisional IRA when weapons became a priority for the new strategy. Kelly was arrested his activities and served 15 years in prison. After his release and at the urgent request of the IRA’s political wing (Sinn Fein), Kelly became an assembly member in 1996, representing the Mid-Ulster constituency in the power sharing assembly after the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Thomas Murphy was named as the IRA’s chief-of-staff since 1997, allegedly responsible for the fundraising activities for the group. Murphy was a notorious smuggler with an estimated net worth to be over 40m GPB. According to news reports, he made the bulk of his fortune smuggling livestock, cigarettes, and oil into Ireland. In addition, Murphy is suspected to have smuggled large amounts of weapons to the IRA over the past 20 years. Bobby Sands become an inspirational figure within the Republican movement during his 14 years prison sentence for possession of a firearm. Sands joined the Provisional IRA in 1972, and 1981 he led a hunger strike against in an effort to demand the prisoner’s status be changed to that of political prisoners. Sands was elected as member of British Parliament while still in prison, his election is believed to have spurned Sinn Fein's involvement in electoral 3 Start - www.start.umd.edu [Accessed 15.06.2011], 6 politics. Shortly after his election, Bobby Sands died causing riots over the country. Sands refused to eat for 66 days. Over 100,000 people are believed to have lined his funeral route. Sinn Fein was the IRA’s political wing and under the direction of a man named ‘Gerry Adams’. Although in later years Sinn Fein distanced itself from the IRA, there have been clear links with name some of its leaders as former members of the terrorist group. For years Adams was one such leader, and although he publicly denies having ever been a volunteer in the IRA, these links remain questionable. He was still considered important enough to join an IRA delegation that met with the British government in London for talks in 1972, but one important question that can be considered is whether the IRA or Sinn Fein would have achieved what they have without the existence of the other. Strategies The IRA's initial strategy was to use force by inflicting enough casualties on British forces that British government would be forced to withdraw from the region due to public opinion.4 The IRA issued its military objectives in its training and induction manual called “The Green Book, 1977.” The manual described: 1. A war of attrition -creating an unpopular war to force occupational forces to withdraw. 2. A bombing campaign aimed at making the enemy's financial interest in our country unprofitable while at the same time curbing long-term financial investment in our country.