The organisation rejects the Mitchell Principles and the Good Friday Agreement, comparing the latter to the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty which resulted in the partition of Ireland.
The bridge had been targeted by the Irish Republican Army on 29 March 1939 as part of its Sabotage Campaign, and by the Provisional IRA on 24 April 1996. On 19 July, security forces carried out a controlled explosion on a bomb left at Ealing Broadway station and public transport was disrupted when the Metropolitan Police closed Victoria and Paddington train stations and halted services on the London Underground.
An earlier version of the rocket launcher, the RPG-7, had been in the possession of the Provisional IRA from as early as 1972, but this was the first time the RPG-18 had been found in the possession of a paramilitary organisation in Ireland. ===Return to activity=== On 20 January 2000 the RIRA issued a call-to-arms in a statement to the Irish News.
In November 2012 it claimed responsibility for shooting dead a prison officer near Lurgan, the first prison officer to be killed since 1993. On 3 September 2012, prominent New IRA (former RIRA) member Alan Ryan was shot dead in Dublin.
The bridge had been targeted by the Irish Republican Army on 29 March 1939 as part of its Sabotage Campaign, and by the Provisional IRA on 24 April 1996. On 19 July, security forces carried out a controlled explosion on a bomb left at Ealing Broadway station and public transport was disrupted when the Metropolitan Police closed Victoria and Paddington train stations and halted services on the London Underground.
It formed in 1997 following a split in the Provisional IRA by dissident members, who rejected the IRA's ceasefire that year.
In March 2009 it claimed responsibility for an attack on Massereene Barracks which killed two British soldiers, the first to be killed in Northern Ireland since 1997.
Small pockets of the Real IRA that did not merge with the New IRA continue to have a presence in Republic of Ireland, particularly in Cork and to a lesser extent in Dublin. ==Origins== In July 1997 the Provisional IRA called a ceasefire.
On 10 October 1997 a Provisional IRA General Army Convention was held in Falcarragh, County Donegal.
The convention backed the pro-ceasefire line, and on 26 October McKevitt and Sands McKevitt resigned from the Executive along with other members. In November 1997 McKevitt and other dissidents held a meeting in a farmhouse in Oldcastle, County Meath, and a new organisation, styling itself Óglaigh na hÉireann, was formed.
The most notable of these was the 1998 Omagh bombing, which killed 29 people.
The organisation attracted disaffected Provisional IRA members from the republican stronghold of South Armagh, as well as Dublin, Belfast, Limerick, Tipperary, County Louth, County Tyrone and County Monaghan. The name "Real IRA" entered common usage when in early 1998 members set up a roadblock in Jonesborough, County Armagh, and told motorists "We're from the IRA.
The organisation also attacks members of the security forces using land mines, home-made mortars and car bombs, and has also targeted England using incendiary devices and car bombs to "spread terror and disruption". ==Campaign== ===Early campaign=== The organisation's first action was an attempted bombing in Banbridge, County Down on 7 January 1998.
This led to a series of high-profile arrests and seizures by the Garda Síochána in the first half of 1998; these involved the death of RIRA member Rónán Mac Lochlainn who was shot dead trying to escape from police, following an attempted robbery of a security van in County Wicklow. ===Omagh bombing=== On 15 August 1998 the RIRA left a car containing 500 lb of home-made explosives in the centre of Omagh, County Tyrone.
In early November, the Independent Monitoring Commission released a report stating that the threat from the RIRA and other dissident republicans was at its most serious level since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. When drug dealer Sean Winters was shot dead in Portmarnock, north Dublin, in September 2010, the Real IRA "emerged as the chief suspects".
In 1999 the RIRA began preparations for a renewed campaign, and in May three members travelled to Split in Croatia to purchase arms, which were smuggled back to Ireland.
The bombers were disturbed as they were assembling the device, which would have caused mass murder if detonated, according to soldiers. On 29 February a rocket launcher similar to one seized in the 1999 raid was found near an army base in Dungannon, County Tyrone, and on 15 March three men were arrested following the discovery of 500 lb of home-made explosives when the RUC searched two cars in Hillsborough, County Down.
After that bombing the Real IRA went on ceasefire, but resumed operations again in 2000.
An earlier version of the rocket launcher, the RPG-7, had been in the possession of the Provisional IRA from as early as 1972, but this was the first time the RPG-18 had been found in the possession of a paramilitary organisation in Ireland. ===Return to activity=== On 20 January 2000 the RIRA issued a call-to-arms in a statement to the Irish News.
On 1 June 2000 a bomb damaged Hammersmith Bridge, a symbolic target for Irish republican paramilitary groups.
In November 2000, security forces foiled a plot to drive 500 lb of homemade explosives to central London that month, a bomb twice as powerful as the one in Omagh.
On 19 June 2000 a bomb was found in the grounds of Hillsborough Castle, home of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Mandelson.
Following a car chase the bombers escaped across the Irish border, and the Irish Army carried out a controlled explosion on the bomb after the van was found abandoned in County Donegal. On 13 September 2000, two 80 lb bombs were planted at the Magilligan army camp in County Londonderry, one of which was planted in a wooden hut and partially exploded when a soldier opened the door to the hut.
The Provisional IRA has been hostile to the RIRA and issued threats to RIRA members, and in October 2000 was alleged to be responsible for the fatal shooting of Belfast RIRA member Joe O'Connor according to O'Connor's family and 32 County Sovereignty Movement member Marian Price. Organisations called "Irish Republican Army" are illegal in both UK law and Irish law; both proscriptions have been held to apply to the RIRA as to other groups of the name.
At the time police were warning for weeks that a terrorist attack in London could be imminent. On 21 February 2001 a bomb disguised as a torch left outside a Territorial Army base in Shepherd's Bush seriously injured a 14-year-old cadet, who was blinded and had his hand blown off.
The 3 August 2001 Ealing bombing injured seven people, and on 3 November a car bomb containing 60 lb of home-made explosives was planted in the centre of Birmingham.
On 11 November the RUC and British Army prevented a mortar attack after stopping a van near Derrylin, County Fermanagh, and the RUC prevented a further attack on 13 January 2001 when an 1100 lb bomb was found in Armagh – the largest bomb found in several years according to the RUC. On 23 January the RIRA attacked Ebrington Army Barracks in Derry for a second time, firing a mortar over a perimeter fence.
McKevitt was arrested on 29 March 2001 and charged with membership of an illegal organisation and directing terrorism, and remanded into custody.
In July 2001, following the arrests of McKevitt and other RIRA members, British and Irish government sources hinted that the organisation was now in disarray.
Five RIRA members were also convicted in connection with the 2001 bombing campaign in England, and received sentences varying from 16 years to 22 years' imprisonment.
In March 2013, another prominent former Real IRA member, Peter Butterly from Dunleer, was shot dead; three Dublin men, allegedly from the Alan Ryan faction, were charged with his murder and IRA membership. In February 2014, the group sent seven letter bombs to British Army recruitment offices in south-east England; the first time republicans had struck in Britain since 2001.
In 2001 the United States government designated the RIRA (and its aliases) as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization" (FTO).
The operation began following telephone warnings, and the road and railway line connecting Newry to Dundalk were closed due to security alerts. A pipe bomb was discovered at a police officer's home in Annalong, County Down on 3 January 2002, and two teenage boys were injured in County Armagh on 2 March when a bomb hidden in a traffic cone exploded.
On 29 March 2002 the RIRA targeted a former member of the Royal Irish Regiment from Sion Mills, County Tyrone, with a bomb attached to his car that failed to explode.
On 1 August 2002 a civilian worker was killed by an explosion at a Territorial Army base in Derry.
Other key figures were jailed, including the RIRA's Director of Operations, Liam Campbell, who was convicted of membership of an illegal organisation, and Colm Murphy who was convicted of conspiring to cause the Omagh bombing, although this conviction was overturned on appeal. On 10 April 2002 Ruairi Convey, from Donaghmede, Dublin, was jailed for three years for membership of the RIRA.
In October 2002, McKevitt and other RIRA members imprisoned in Portlaoise Prison issued a statement calling for the organisation to stand down.
After a two-month trial, McKevitt was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment in August 2003 after being convicted of directing terrorism. ===2002–2007=== After McKevitt's imprisonment, the RIRA regrouped and claimed responsibility for a series of firebomb attacks against premises in Belfast in November 2004, and an attack on a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) patrol in Ballymena during March 2006 was attributed to the RIRA by the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC).
The RIRA has stated it has no intention of calling a ceasefire unless a declaration of intent to withdraw from Northern Ireland is made by the British Government. In a lengthy interview with the newspaper An Phoblacht in 2003, the leadership of the Provisional IRA said that the RIRA had "no coherent strategy". ===2007–2011=== On 8 November 2007 two RIRA members shot an off-duty PSNI officer as he sat in his car on Bishop Street in Derry, causing injuries to his face and arm.
After a two-month trial, McKevitt was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment in August 2003 after being convicted of directing terrorism. ===2002–2007=== After McKevitt's imprisonment, the RIRA regrouped and claimed responsibility for a series of firebomb attacks against premises in Belfast in November 2004, and an attack on a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) patrol in Ballymena during March 2006 was attributed to the RIRA by the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC).
After a two-month trial, McKevitt was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment in August 2003 after being convicted of directing terrorism. ===2002–2007=== After McKevitt's imprisonment, the RIRA regrouped and claimed responsibility for a series of firebomb attacks against premises in Belfast in November 2004, and an attack on a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) patrol in Ballymena during March 2006 was attributed to the RIRA by the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC).
On 9 August 2006, fire bomb attacks by the RIRA hit businesses in Newry, County Down.
On 27 October 2006, a large amount of explosives was found in Kilbranish, Mount Leinster, County Carlow by police, who believe the RIRA were trying to derail the peace process with a bomb attack.
The IMC believe the RIRA were also responsible for a failed mortar attack on Craigavon PSNI Station on 4 December 2006.
The IMC's October 2006 report stated that the RIRA remains "active and dangerous" and that it seeks to "sustain its position as a terrorist organisation".
Three men from County Louth were arrested and extradited to the UK and subsequently imprisoned for 30 years each after pleading guilty to conspiring to cause explosions and other charges. In June 2006, the PSNI made arrests following an MI5 sting operation targeting a dissident republican gun smuggling plot.
The RIRA has stated it has no intention of calling a ceasefire unless a declaration of intent to withdraw from Northern Ireland is made by the British Government. In a lengthy interview with the newspaper An Phoblacht in 2003, the leadership of the Provisional IRA said that the RIRA had "no coherent strategy". ===2007–2011=== On 8 November 2007 two RIRA members shot an off-duty PSNI officer as he sat in his car on Bishop Street in Derry, causing injuries to his face and arm.
On 7 February 2008, the RIRA stated that, after experiencing a three-year period of reorganisation, it intended to "go back to war" by launching a new offensive against "legitimate targets".
On 12 May 2008 the RIRA seriously injured a member of the PSNI when a booby trap bomb exploded underneath his car near Spamount, County Tyrone.
On 25 September 2008 the RIRA shot a man in the neck in St Johnston, near the County Londonderry border.
In March 2009 it claimed responsibility for an attack on Massereene Barracks which killed two British soldiers, the first to be killed in Northern Ireland since 1997.
The same man was targeted in a pipe bomb attack on his home on 25 October, the RIRA did not claim responsibility for the attack, but security forces believe they were responsible for it. On 7 March 2009 the RIRA claimed responsibility for the 2009 Massereene Barracks shooting.
On 3 April 2009 the RIRA in Derry claimed responsibility for carrying out a punishment shooting of a man who was awaiting sentencing for raping a 15-year-old girl.
The RIRA were also blamed for orchestrating rioting in the Ardoyne area of Belfast on 13 July 2009 as an Apprentice Boys parade was passing.
In early November, the Independent Monitoring Commission released a report stating that the threat from the RIRA and other dissident republicans was at its most serious level since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. When drug dealer Sean Winters was shot dead in Portmarnock, north Dublin, in September 2010, the Real IRA "emerged as the chief suspects".
They were also suspected of shooting dead drugs gang leader Michael Kelly in Coolock in September 2011. On 5 October 2010, a car bomb exploded outside a branch of the Ulster Bank on Culmore Road in Derry.
The RIRA later claimed responsibility in a telephone call to the Derry Journal. A large Real IRA explosives dump and arms cache were discovered in Dunleer, County Louth by Gardaí in October 2010, following a weekend of searches and arrests in the east of the country.
As before, the group would continue to refer to itself as "the Irish Republican Army", though some media began to refer to the group as a "new IRA". As well as RAAD, the alliance includes an east Tyrone group thought to be responsible for killing PSNI officer Ronan Kerr in 2011, and a Belfast group who badly wounded PSNI officer Peadar Heffron in 2010.
On 30 June 2010, two of those arrested were found guilty following a trial by judge in Belfast.
They were also suspected of shooting dead drugs gang leader Michael Kelly in Coolock in September 2011. On 5 October 2010, a car bomb exploded outside a branch of the Ulster Bank on Culmore Road in Derry.
In 2011 Michael Campbell, brother of Liam, was found guilty in Vilnius, Lithuania, of trying to purchase arms and explosives and was sentenced to twelve years in prison.
As before, the group would continue to refer to itself as "the Irish Republican Army", though some media began to refer to the group as a "new IRA". As well as RAAD, the alliance includes an east Tyrone group thought to be responsible for killing PSNI officer Ronan Kerr in 2011, and a Belfast group who badly wounded PSNI officer Peadar Heffron in 2010.
The Real IRA has also been involved in attacks on drug dealers. In July 2012 it was reported that Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) and other small republican militant groups were merging with the Real IRA.
Further seizures of the group's arms and explosives by the Gardaí in 2012 and 2013 led to over a dozen more arrests.
Campbell has maintained his innocence, accusing British intelligence of attempting to frame him. ===Since 2012: merger and beyond ("New IRA")=== On 26 July 2012, it was reported that Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) and other small republican militant groups were merging with the Real IRA.
The PSNI reckoned in 2012 that the new group had a membership of "between 250 and 300 military activists, backed up by associates".
In November 2012 it claimed responsibility for shooting dead a prison officer near Lurgan, the first prison officer to be killed since 1993. On 3 September 2012, prominent New IRA (former RIRA) member Alan Ryan was shot dead in Dublin.
Ryan's replacement as leader and another associate were shot and wounded in November 2012, allegedly on the orders of the Northern leadership.
Further seizures of the group's arms and explosives by the Gardaí in 2012 and 2013 led to over a dozen more arrests.
In October 2013 Campbell was freed on appeal, only to have the Supreme Court of Lithuania order a retrial in June 2014.
In March 2013, another prominent former Real IRA member, Peter Butterly from Dunleer, was shot dead; three Dublin men, allegedly from the Alan Ryan faction, were charged with his murder and IRA membership. In February 2014, the group sent seven letter bombs to British Army recruitment offices in south-east England; the first time republicans had struck in Britain since 2001.
In October 2013 Campbell was freed on appeal, only to have the Supreme Court of Lithuania order a retrial in June 2014.
In March 2013, another prominent former Real IRA member, Peter Butterly from Dunleer, was shot dead; three Dublin men, allegedly from the Alan Ryan faction, were charged with his murder and IRA membership. In February 2014, the group sent seven letter bombs to British Army recruitment offices in south-east England; the first time republicans had struck in Britain since 2001.
In November 2014, a PSNI armoured jeep was hit by another 'horizontal mortar' in Derry, and in Belfast a PSNI landrover was attacked with a homemade rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher. In April–May 2015, there were two New IRA bomb attacks in Derry.
This makes it illegal for Americans to provide material support to the RIRA, requires American financial institutions to freeze the group's assets, and denies suspected RIRA members visas into the United States. ==Funding== In 2014, Forbes magazine estimated the group's annual turnover at US$50 million.
In November 2014, a PSNI armoured jeep was hit by another 'horizontal mortar' in Derry, and in Belfast a PSNI landrover was attacked with a homemade rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher. In April–May 2015, there were two New IRA bomb attacks in Derry.
Days later, on 27 November 2015, police in West Belfast came under heavy fire yet again.
The Real IRA or another dissident republican group was suspected to be behind the attack. On 4 March 2016, a prison officer (Adrian Ismay) had a heart attack and died in a hospital.
It added that the officer was targeted because he trained prison officers at Maghaberry. In April 2016, Gardaí arrested two significant members of the New IRA and seized €10,000.
In April 2016, explosives linked to the Real IRA were found in Dublin and several people were questioned by police.
In April 2016, the Real IRA were blamed for badly injuring a man in a punishment shooting in Derry, shortly after a man had been killed by a dissident republican attack in Ardoyne.
In May 2016 three men were shot in paramilitary style attacks in republican areas of Belfast during a 24-hour period, leaving two injured and one dead.
Fifteen people were arrested in Northern Ireland following a paramilitary funeral for him. In June 2016 it was revealed that a five-man IRA hit team were in Dublin's north inner city looking to murder two leading gangsters after one of their associates was shot dead in a gangland feud.
In September 2016, Vincent Kelly, a close associate of Alan Ryan, who had been arrested and imprisoned following the Stamullen raid, was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment in Belfast for possession of a sub-machine gun and ammunition, after getting off a bus from Dublin. In Cork City at 5 pm on 7 December 2016, former Chief of Staff of the RIRA southern command, Aidan "The Beast" O'Driscoll, was shot and killed in the street by two masked gunmen.
Over 250 seizures, thwarted attacks, and counter-terrorist operations are reported to have been undertaken by British security services. The group remained active in 2018, with it and the Continuity IRA claiming they have no plans to announce a ceasefire along the lines of that of the ONH.
However, both groups have suffered major setbacks and inactivity due to feuding and heavy police intervention, and have likewise often failed to commit successful attacks due to antiquated equipment and member inexperience. In July 2018 the New IRA claimed responsibility for a spate of gun and bomb attacks at police officers during the riots in Derry. On 19 January 2019, there was a car bomb attack at the Bishop Street Courthouse in Derry, for which the New IRA are the "main line of enquiry".
However, both groups have suffered major setbacks and inactivity due to feuding and heavy police intervention, and have likewise often failed to commit successful attacks due to antiquated equipment and member inexperience. In July 2018 the New IRA claimed responsibility for a spate of gun and bomb attacks at police officers during the riots in Derry. On 19 January 2019, there was a car bomb attack at the Bishop Street Courthouse in Derry, for which the New IRA are the "main line of enquiry".
The following month, two men were shot in the city of Derry, in what was described as a "paramilitary attack" by New IRA members. On 5 March 2019 at around 12:00 pm three explosive devices were found in packages that were found in Jiffy bags at Waterloo station and City Airport in London, as well as a separate package found nearby Heathrow Airport.
On 11 March 2019, it was reported that a group stylising themselves as the IRA claimed to be behind the explosive devices, stating that they had sent 5 devices, but only 4 had been discovered.
The device was addressed to Charing Cross railway station in central London. On 18 April 2019, rioting took place on the streets of the Creggan after PSNI launched a raid looking for munitions.
These events have been cited as a sign of change in attitude towards dissidents in traditionally Republican areas. On 7 June 2019, the New IRA admitted responsibility for a potentially lethal bomb discovered on 1 June fitted under the car of a police officer at a golf club in east Belfast.
A cross-border investigation was launched. On 18 August 2020, ten suspects were arrested in Northern Ireland as part of an all-island operation against the New IRA.
In the Republic Gardaí raided properties in Dublin, Cork, Kerry and Laois but arrested nobody. On April 21, 2021, the group admitted to planting an explosive device behind a female PSNI officers car in Dungiven.
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