Irish Republican Army

I

Introduction

Irish Republican Army (IRA), Irish paramilitary organization founded in 1919 to promote Irish nationalism and fight British rule in Ireland. It is also known as Óglaigh na hÉireann in Irish.

II

Early History, 1919-1958

The IRA emerged from the Volunteers, an armed, but not secret, organization, established in 1914 in the crisis over the Third Home Rule Bill (see Irish Home Rule). The Bill was to give Ireland a form of devolved government from the United Kingdom government at Westminster. It was put on the statute books, suspended for the duration of World War I, but was superseded by events in Ireland. The Volunteers were nominally attached to the constitutional nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party, and when its leader, John Redmond, called for them to enrol in the British Army and fight in World War I, over 100,000 did so. Only a small number, about 16,000, split and refused to follow Redmond’s lead. In 1916 the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), a secret body that wanted an Irish republic, organized a rebellion that involved mobilizing those remaining Volunteers. That rebellion, called the Easter Rising, altered the debate in Ireland, and full-scale separation from Britain became the goal of Irish nationalism.

The nationalist Sinn Féin had not been involved in either the planning or the execution of the rising but in the confusion it was credited with responsibility. It had previously been a propaganda organization lobbying for a dual monarchy system but, as the most extreme group that was publicly known, it was assumed to be behind the rebels. It then became a party political organization seeking election, and when the annual conference of 1917 changed its constitution and elected as leader Eamon de Valera, the most senior commander of the rising still alive, it adopted the political goals of the Easter Rising rebels.

Sinn Féin had a huge victory in the British general election of 1918, but it was not until after the failure to achieve self-determination as part of the Paris Peace Conference (see Versailles Treaty) that the IRA emerged as an identifiable fighting body. Around 1919, the Volunteers gradually became known as the IRA, especially after the meeting of the first Dáil Éireann (a parliament established by the nationalists who were elected in 1918 but who did not take their seats at Westminster). At this stage the relationship between the two was clear: the IRA was the military unit controlled and directed by the IRB, and Sinn Féin was the political unit, although there were overlapping memberships. The relationship with the Dáil was less clear. It was not until March 1921, only a few months before the truce that ended the Anglo-Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), that the Dáil decided it should take public responsibility for IRA actions. Nevertheless, the Anglo-Irish War was an ineffectual period for Sinn Féin, and the IRA became the dominant organization.

During the Anglo-Irish War the IRA developed into a sophisticated guerrilla machine. The character of the IRA changed over the course of the war; its campaign initially comprised of small-scale raids and ambushes conducted by local groups largely independent of central command. Local factors frequently influenced the level of activity during the war; most IRA activity was concentrated in Dublin, south Munster, and south Ulster. As the war developed, the leadership tried to impose a more rigid military structure on the organization, with mixed results. Indeed, the desire for a more professional army meant that it was easier for the British to gain intelligence on operations; one raid in March 1921 on the offices of Richard Mulcahy, the IRA Chief of Staff, was particularly damaging. They also tried to conduct bigger operations. Some, such as Bloody Sunday on November 20, 1920, where 14 British officers were assassinated, were successful. Others, such as the attack on the Custom’s House in May 1921 where some 70 Dublin IRA men were lost, captured, or killed, were not.

Towards the end of the war Michael Collins, the IRA’s Director of Intelligence, pioneered Active Service Units or Flying Columns to create a more efficient and easily controlled army. However, the most successful aspect of the IRA campaign was its intelligence operation. Through infiltration of government and intimidation of local police it became an effective organization and forced the British government to draft in ex-servicemen from England, Scotland, and Wales rather than relying on the local security apparatus (see Black and Tans). It is estimated that between the first Dáil and the truce of 1921 there were 600 killed and 1,200 wounded on the British side, and 752 IRA men killed and 866 wounded.

The Anglo-Irish War ended with a truce between the IRA and the British Government on July 9, 1921. Some on the IRA side, including Michael Collins, felt that the truce came at the right time as the tide had begun to turn against the IRA and the British were making both military and intelligence gains. After the truce was negotiated there was a period of relative inactivity before negotiations took place between the British Government and Irish nationalist leaders. The resultant Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 6, 1921, split the country into the Irish Free State in the south and a loyalist Northern Ireland in the north. The Dáil ratified the treaty but unwilling to accept it, the anti-Treaty IRA again resorted to violence and sent Ireland into a vicious civil war that lasted a year, and left a legacy that lasted decades (see Irish Civil War). The anti-Treaty IRA, or the Irregulars, disagreed with the terms of the Treaty, which made the Irish Free State a dominion within the British Commonwealth; they wanted an independent republic and disputed the authority of the negotiators and the Dáil to conclude such a treaty that did not grant this status. Although it surrendered in 1923, the IRA continued to recruit and train members.

In the late 1920s the activities of the IRA included disrupting Remembrance Day services, destruction of British symbols, and social agitation; at its peak between 1932 and 1934 they had an estimated membership of between 10,000 and 12,000. However, their relationship with Fianna Fáil, the new political party formed by de Valera, was to be crucial. De Valera decided to enter the Dáil and work for a republic within the Treaty structures. The IRA resisted merger attempts by de Valera in 1932 but supported him in the election of that year. However, when he became Taoiseach (prime minister) he actively campaigned against them, outlawing them, and introducing internment of IRA members. Tensions within the IRA about support for Fianna Fáil and social and economic policy led to a split in the 1934 General Army Convention. Those who left were leading officers and members, and they formed the Republican Congress. The support of the Catholic Church for Fianna Fáil added to the diminishing of IRA significance and influence.

The IRA was a marginal political and military force between de Valera’s electoral success, and the outbreak of the Northern Ireland “Troubles” in the 1960s. It did forge links with Nazi Germany in World War II and mounted a limited and broadly ineffectual campaign in the border counties between the now Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in 1956-1958. The Border Campaign, as it was known, involved attacking police stations and army barracks and killed 17 people (police and IRA) but lacked any significant public support, and it eventually ended with an acknowledgement that this was the case.

III

Emergence of the Provisionals

The late 1960s was a period of immense political change in Northern Ireland and were to transform the fortunes of the IRA (see The Troubles). There was a major campaign under the auspices of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) to change the political system in Northern Ireland, particularly voting procedures for local government and housing allocation. This coincided with an increase in communal tensions between Protestants and Catholics. By 1969 these had become intertwined, and there was immense social and political upheaval. The extent of IRA involvement in these events is contested by all sides, but what is clear is that there was disillusionment among the northern members with the largely southern dominated leadership. This is most clearly demonstrated by slogans daubed on walls in West Belfast: “IRA—I Ran Away.”

The divisions in the organization came to a head over the connections between politics and violence. The leadership were moving the organization towards socialism whereas those in the north were concerned this was moving the IRA away from defending Catholic communities. The final split came in 1969 when the Army Council voted to recognize the three Parliaments of Dublin, Westminster, and Stormont (the seat of Northern Ireland’s government). Those who split became known as the Provisional IRA, after the declaration of the 1916 rebels, and those who remained became known as the Official IRA or the Stickies, after the type of lapel badge they wore. Very quickly, the Provisionals became strong in the north and the Official IRA declined in importance. Since the outbreak of the Troubles in the late 1960s the Provisional IRA has been responsible for 1,802 deaths as of early 2004, more than all other parties combined.

IV

Organization

The Provisional IRA initially inherited the old military structure that consisted of large units with military commanders. However, in the mid-1970s there was a restructuring into small cells, which was supposed to make the organization less susceptible to infiltration by the security forces. Relying upon committed sympathizers for funding, local intelligence, and safe houses, attacks were carried out by small operational cells of two to five members known as Active Service Units. The main decision-making body is called the Army Council and contains seven members; the head of the Army Council is called the Chief of Staff. Changes to the constitution are made by a General Army Convention that is a much larger gathering and is made up of representatives of all the major brigades. These brigades are organized on a territorial basis.

IRA members, known as volunteers, are concentrated in Northern Ireland, although a smaller number are based in the Republic of Ireland; there are also small cells in the rest of the United Kingdom, and some have operated overseas. The current hard-core membership of the IRA is estimated at about 400.