Is the IRA still operating?

[Isbjorn]

Just wondering if the IRA is still operating or if they have signed a treaty or sommething?

[DarkPast]

The IRA is no longer one organisation. It split off into several groups, such as The OIRA (Official IRA), the PIRA (Provisional IRA), the CIRA (Continuity IRA), the RIRA (Real IRA) etc.

As far as I know, most of these groups are not militarily active anymore. Some former members of the PIRA have announced a resumption of hostilities a few months ago, but I think that's it. Hopefully some Irish comrades tell you more.

[scarletghoul]

The main group, the Provisional IRA, which led the guerilla war in from the 60s to the 90s, has decommisioned its weapons and made peace with Britain, as has the INLA. OIRA is inactive too. Some smaller groups however are still at war with the empire; these are the Real IRA, the Continuity IRA, and Oglaigh na hEireann (according to wikipedia there are 2 ONHs, 1 rira splinter group and 1 cira splinter). and yeah some pira people said they were resuming hostilities ealier this year too. so there is still a low intensity war going on, but its nothing like it was before. Things are definitely getting more intense tho..

[DarkPast]

The main group, the Provisional IRA, which led the guerilla war in from the 60s to the 90s, has decommisioned its weapons and made peace with Britain, as has the INLA. OIRA is inactive too. Some smaller groups however are still at war with the empire; these are the Real IRA, the Continuity IRA, and Oglaigh na hEireann (according to wikipedia there are 2 ONHs, 1 rira splinter group and 1 cira splinter). and yeah some pira people said they were resuming hostilities ealier this year too. so there is still a low intensity war going on, but its nothing like it was before. Things are definitely getting more intense tho..

Wouldn't surprise me at all if this increase was due to the worsening economic situation...

[Tommy4ever]

The main IRA group (PIRA) made peace in thew mid-90s. By then it was clear that the guerilla war was not going to succeed, public support for violent struggle of that sort was waning, Sinn Fein was becoming a viable electoral force (previously a barely supported IRA front) and deals were made with the British which created a strange sort of shared power structure in the Northern Irish Assembly where the old Unionist gerrymandered Assembly became more representitative of the population and long withheld civil rights were given to the whole population.

Since then a few small splinter groups have infrequently set off bombs. But nothing on the same scale as before.

[khad]

The Reals, the Contos, and a new IRA composed of dissident Provos are still militarily active, albeit on a lower level.

[LewisQ]

The "canonical" IRA is dormant and has relinquished all its weapons caches and (cryptically but undeniably) renounced violence, and is pursuing a peaceful bourgeois nationalist path via Sinn Féin. The masterstroke of the Good Friday Agreement was the (deeply unpalatable) decision to release all paramilitary prisoners conditional upon their organisations refraining from violence, which created a massive and influential constituency of former militants with a vested interest in the maintenance of peace.

[scarletghoul]

Wouldn't surprise me at all if this increase was due to the worsening economic situation...
Yeah the economy certainly has contributed to the increased appeal of violent rebellion; thats as true in ireland as it is in england, the arab world, etc.. this marxist observation means we can understand things much better than the reactionaries

The main IRA group (PIRA) made peace in thew mid-90s. By then it was clear that the guerilla war was not going to succeed, public support for violent struggle of that sort was waning, Sinn Fein was becoming a viable electoral force (previously a barely supported IRA front)
Uhhmm im not an expert on the irish situation but a lot of this seems to be wrong. it wasnt a case of the pira giving up because of a guaranteed failure or whatever; in fact the british army admits that it was a stalemate. the pira was very strong in the 90s.. they were able to sustain a guerilla campaign for 30 years and negotiate a 'solution' with the british government instead of being finished off militarily, that suggests they were a force to be reckoned with.

[RedSquare]

Yeah the economy certainly has contributed to the increased appeal of violent rebellion; thats as true in ireland as it is in england, the arab world, etc.. this marxist observation means we can understand things much better than the reactionaries

Uhhmm im not an expert on the irish situation but a lot of this seems to be wrong. it wasnt a case of the pira giving up because of a guaranteed failure or whatever; in fact the british army admits that it was a stalemate. the pira was very strong in the 90s.. they were able to sustain a guerilla campaign for 30 years and negotiate a 'solution' with the british government instead of being finished off militarily, that suggests they were a force to be reckoned with.
Militarily they could have kept operating for a good while longer, but the public support for armed struggle was steadily dropping due to the strategy orchestrated by Adams which since the late 1980s put the political (Sinn Fein) struggle above the armed struggle, prior to that Sinn Fein and politics were subordinate to the IRA armed struggle.

Public support was waning somewhat, electorally things were improving since as far back as 1981 with the election of the hunger strike candidates, and during the 1994 ceasefire Sinn Fein noticed an improved response from the public in the 26 County Local Elections. Coupled with a number of high profile incidents throughout the mid-nineties such as the shooting of Detective Jerry McCabe in Limerick (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfr_7AKhI3g) (an event which still draws anger in the 26 counties) after the breakdown of the 1996 ceasefire, the Canary Wharf Bombing, etc. the path of peace evolved due to perceived public pressure and the naturally evolving electoral strategy.

[Isbjorn]

Ok thanks. im not from ireland but revaloutionary groups like that always interested me. :)

[Tim Finnegan]

The "canonical" IRA is dormant and has relinquished all its weapons caches and (cryptically but undeniably) renounced violence, and is pursuing a peaceful bourgeois nationalist path via Sinn Féin. The masterstroke of the Good Friday Agreement was the (deeply unpalatable) decision to release all paramilitary prisoners conditional upon their organisations refraining from violence, which created a massive and influential constituency of former militants with a vested interest in the maintenance of peace.
Were they ever anything other than bourgeois nationalists?

[Sheepy]

Sinn Fein confirmed that former IRA Commander Martin McGuinness is currently running for presidency of the Republic of Ireland.

[Fawkes]

Were they ever anything other than bourgeois nationalists?

While they may not have all been socialists, the vast majority of Volunteers were working class.

[Tim Finnegan]

While they may not have all been socialists, the vast majority of Volunteers were working class.
[Bourgoise nationalists], not [bourgoise][nationalists], if you see what I mean.

[Aurora]

The CIRA and RIRA still blow up cars and shoot pizza men every now and again. Recently the RIRA said they would do everything in their power to disrupt the British Queens visit, the result was a pipe bomb on a bus filled with people.


Things are definitely getting more intense tho..

Yeah the economy certainly has contributed to the increased appeal of violent rebellion
Care to back this up? last year the INLA, OIRA and UDA(SE antrim brigade) decommissioned, surely not a sign of things getting 'more intense'

[pastradamus]

The CIRA and RIRA still blow up cars and shoot pizza men every now and again. Recently the RIRA said they would do everything in their power to disrupt the British Queens visit, the result was a pipe bomb on a bus filled with people.

Care to back this up? last year the INLA, OIRA and UDA(SE antrim brigade) decommissioned, surely not a sign of things getting 'more intense'

I think that you are underestimating the growth and influence of the Dissident Republican Movement. The CIRA's last action was as recent as 17th September 2011, when they fired RPG's at a police patrol in Craigavon and the RIRA's most recent move being a day earlier when they shot dead a Dublin drug dealer.

Here, in Cork City they have gained a notorious reputation for attacking drug dealers. By interrogating, beating and killing known drug dealers. Last year I would have laughed at that notion (and I did on Revleft), but they have succeeded in turning the tide here in Cork - not that they have eliminated the flow of drugs or anything. Recently they have taunted known drug dealers in Ballinderry Park on Corks north side. They taunted one particular drug dealer by dumping a coffin on their front lawn - which was later condemned by Sinn Fein. This was reported on local radio stations shortly afterwards.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Fury+over+coffin+left+in+garden+by+masked+men%3B+T HREAT.-a0267173018

http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/sinn-fein-condemns-vigilante-drug-march-167828.html

http://www.peoplesrepublicofcork.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3915911

[Aurora]

I think that you are underestimating the growth and influence of the Dissident Republican Movement.

I may have been slightly dishonest by omission by not mentioning that they sometimes shoot police and drug dealers. But my point wasn't to do with either their growth or influence but to do with their anti-working class tactics.

I'm aware of their activities in Cork but i'm not quite sure what you mean by 'turning the tide'?

[Danielle Ni Dhighe]

The main group, the Provisional IRA, which led the guerilla war in from the 60s to the 90s, has decommisioned its weapons and made peace with Britain, as has the INLA.
The INLA decommissioned, but the movement it's a part of has by no means "made peace with Britain."

[Danielle Ni Dhighe]

The IRA is no longer one organisation. It split off into several groups, such as The OIRA (Official IRA), the PIRA (Provisional IRA), the CIRA (Continuity IRA), the RIRA (Real IRA) etc.
Correct, it hasn't been one organization since 1969, when it split into Official and Provisional factions. The CIRA split off from the PIRA in 1986, while the RIRA split off from the PIRA in 1997. The INLA split off from the OIRA in 1974.

[NewEast]

When I went to Belfast last year, there was shitloads of CIRA and RIRA graf. Once I even saw a hammer and sickle graf with IRA written next to it. Also saw heaps of UVA, UVF and Combat18 graf. Also saw quite a bit of anarchist graf. Seems pretty low-key right now, but I think it could flare up again. Belfast is one of the worst places in the world I've ever visited, up there with Manila. Near the Falls Road I saw some graf that said, 'kill all English'. BTW, there's a gay club there with a silver Lenin statue out the front. No shit. Best I saw was a mural drawn by some children that depicted a flying saucer landing with a friendly martian greeting the children of the world with the slogan 'world peace'. Someone had sprayed a swastika over it and written 'aliens out'.

[#FF0000]

So, what's up with all these different sects of the IRA? Why did they split like they did and what's up with each individual group?

[ComradeOm]

So, what's up with all these different sects of the IRA? Why did they split like they did and what's up with each individual group?Geography and time. The Provos split from the Officials when the latter got left behind by the rising tide of violence in the late 1960s (with the PIRA reconstructing the IRA as a predominately Northern organisation). The PIRA's decision to embrace the peace process, in 1986, led some diehards to form the CIRA... but they were too scared to announce themselves until the mid-1990s. A more serious split occurred around 1998 when McKevitt took a good chuck of the PIRA's support apparatus (largely based in the south) and formed the RIRA. Again, based on a desire to continue the physical force struggle

In reality though both the CIRA and RIRA have been decimated by the security apparatus. Neither are operating on a scale anywhere near that of the PIRA before Good Friday. From what I've been hearing, it's hard to even describe them as coherent organisation these days. What we are seeing is the rise of a more diffuse 'dissident' milieu with actions of semi-independent volunteers being attributed to or appropriated by the RIRA/CIRA

Same with graffiti and, to a lesser degree, rioting. It has absolutely no relation to the actual strength of these organisations' combat units

[ProletarianResurrection]

I may have been slightly dishonest by omission by not mentioning that they sometimes shoot police and drug dealers. But my point wasn't to do with either their growth or influence but to do with their anti-working class tactics.

I'm aware of their activities in Cork but i'm not quite sure what you mean by 'turning the tide'?

Shooting pigs and heroin dealers is anti-working class? :confused:

[ProletarianResurrection]

I may have been slightly dishonest by omission by not mentioning that they sometimes shoot police and drug dealers. But my point wasn't to do with either their growth or influence but to do with their anti-working class tactics.

I'm aware of their activities in Cork but i'm not quite sure what you mean by 'turning the tide'?

Trying to create Social Democratic parties where dont exist like Trots such as yourself are attempting to do in the US and participating in capitalist elections are very much anti-working class tactics. Pot. Kettle. Black.

[#FF0000]

Shooting pigs and heroin dealers is anti-working class? :confused:

It's not really anything but useless.

[Aurora]

Shooting pigs and heroin dealers is anti-working class? :confused:

Yes, unaccountable armed groups with a self-entitlement to 'police the community' are anti-working class. "the police aren't tough enough on crime, let's do their job for them!'
Shooting police is completely useless and you end up strengthening police powers and turning workers away, there isn't a situation at present where shooting police would be useful to the workers movement.
Anyway my initial post was about them shooting fast food workers, blatantly anti-working class and trying to bomb a dublin bus full of workers.

[ProletarianResurrection]

Yes, unaccountable armed groups with a self-entitlement to 'police the community' are anti-working class. "the police aren't tough enough on crime, let's do their job for them!'
.

The capitalist state deliberately allows working class areas to go hell through the activities of criminal scum in order to "police" them and keep people dejected and seperated. The job of the capitalist police anyway is to defend capitalism, they are the hired goons of the bosses or do you believe they are workers in uniform? If you are not into heroin dealing scum being shot up and the granny bashers getting their knee caps shot up, what can I say? I guess its a prole thing and being middle class you really wouldnt understand...

[ProletarianResurrection]

Anyway my initial post was about them shooting fast food workers, blatantly anti-working class and trying to bomb a dublin bus full of workers.

When did this happen? :confused:

[Soldier of life]

No group tried to blow up a bus full of workers, I don't support any of the armed groups about today, but I must say that is rubbish.

As for the fastfood guys, that was stupid on the part of the RIRA. They got injured while those 2 soldiers got killed. They then released a statement saying that the pizza boys were 'collaborators' and therefore shooting them was basically ok as well. To be frank about it, 99% of people if not more in Ireland would find that notion a bit insane.