The Irish Republican Army

Improved Essays
The Irish Republican Army started off not as a terrorist group but as a military organization and even took part in the Irish War of Independence. However, having lost the civil war they took part in, they stayed in existence with the plot to overthrow the Irish Free State and made their defiance against the British well know. They made its existence known to the world as a terrorist organization in the 1960s as the Clandestine “armed wing” of the Sinn Fein movement. They were devoted to bringing about a unified Ireland and Northern Ireland, and to remove any British forces from Ireland. To do this, the group several hundred strong in members and another several hundred strong in supporters and sympathizers aimed their hostility at high-ranking …show more content…
They were already in existence before the Irish Republican Army ceasefire but did not become active until then. The first attack documented was that of two bombs detonated in December 1994 and there have been many more attacks affiliated with this terrorist group since. They have been successful in planting four bombs in 2005 in Northern Ireland and killing two men who use to be members but instead left and created a rival organization. They have even claimed responsibility for murdering a PSNI officer in Craigavon, County Armagh. In the last few years since 2011 there have not been as many attacks as previous years but in 2010 alone there were 22 incidence thought to be affiliated with the group including many bombs, shooting, and more attacks targeted towards PSNI members and buildings to which PSNI members owned and operated. More recently, in May 2015, they have been said to have placed many bombs on the route of Prince Charles and Camilla’s tour, possibly in order to let the world know they still exist and are still active, to intimidate the royals, and to …show more content…
They too are focused on removing all British forces from Northern Ireland and like the Continuity Irish Republican Army, they wish to see Northern Ireland reunified with the rest of Ireland. They are a pressure group and use robberies, assassinations and bombings to get their point across and to pressure Ireland to becoming free of the British and are about 100-200 people strong. Although having slightly more supporters than the Continuity Irish Republican Army, they have carried out far fewer attacks, some 80 since 1999. Recently in 2003, Irish police interdicted two large bombs, being carried in vehicles and 5 members of the Real Irish Republican Army were arrested as a

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