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(the “irish republican army” (IRA) is any of several ‘armed movements’ in ‘ireland’ in the 20th and 21st centuries dedicated to ‘irish republicanism’ (the belief that all of ‘ireland’ should be an ‘independent republic’)
(it was also characterized by the belief that ‘political violence’ was ‘necessary’ to achieve that ‘goal’)
(the first known use of the term “irish republican army” occurred in the ‘fenian raids’ on many british ‘landmarks’, ‘towns’, and ‘forts’ in the ‘late 1700s’ to the ‘1860s’)
(the original ‘irish republican army’ formed in ‘1917’ from those ‘irish volunteers’ who refused to enlist in the ‘british army’ during ‘world war I’, members of the ‘irish citizen army’, and others)
(during the “irish war of independence”, it was the army of the “irish republic”, declared by “Dáil Éireann” in ‘1919’)
(some irish people dispute the claims of more recently created organizations that insist that they are the ‘only ‘legitimate descendants’ of the ‘original IRA”, often referred to as the “old IRA”)
(the playwright and former IRA member ‘brendan behan’ once said that the first issue on any irish organization’s agenda was “the split”)
(for the ‘IRA’, that has often been the case)
(the first ‘split’ came after the ‘anglo-irish treaty’ in ‘1921’, with supporters of the ‘treaty’ forming the nucleus of the ‘national army’ of the newly created ‘irish free state’, while the ‘anti-treaty forces’ continued to use the name Irish Republican Army)
(after the end of the ‘irish civil war’ (1922 – 1923), the ‘IRA’ was around in one form or another for 40 years, when it split into the ‘official IRA’ and the ‘provisional IRA’ in ‘1969’)
(the latter then had its own breakaways, namely the ‘real IRA’ and the ‘continuity IRA’, each claiming to be the ‘true successor’ of the ‘army of the ‘irish republic”)
(the ‘irish republican army’ (1917 – 1922) (in later years, known as the “old” IRA), recognized by the ‘First Dáil’ as the legitimate army of the ‘irish republic’ in ‘april 1921’, split into ‘pro-treaty forces’ (the ‘national army’, also known as the government forces or the regulars) and ‘anti-treaty forces’ (the republicans, irregulars or executive forces) after the ‘treaty’)
(the ‘irish republican army’ (‘1922’ – ‘1969’), the ‘anti-treaty IRA’ which fought and lost the ‘civil war’ and which thereafter refused to recognize either the ‘irish free state’ or ‘northern ireland’, deeming them both to be creations of ‘british imperialism’)
(it existed in one form or another for over 40 years before splitting in ‘1969’)
(the ‘official IRA’ (aka ‘OIRA’), the remainder of the ‘IRA’ after the ‘1969 split’ with the ‘provisionals’; was primarily ‘marxist’ in its ‘political orientation’)
(It is now ‘inactive’ in the ‘military sense’, while its political wing (‘official sinn féin’) became the “workers’ party of ireland”)
(the ‘provisional IRA’ (aka ‘PIRA’) broke from the ‘OIRA’ in ‘1969’ over ‘abstentionism’ and how to deal with the increasing violence in ‘northern ireland’)
(although opposed to the OIRA’s ‘marxism’, it came to develop a ‘left-wing orientation’ and increasing political activity)
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25 SEPTEMBER 1983:
“maze prison escape”
(38 IRA prisoners (armed with 6 handguns) hijack a ‘prison meals lorry’ and smash their way out of the “maze prison”)
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12 OCTOBER 1984:
“brighton hotel bombing”
(the “provisional irish republican army” attempt to assassinate british prime minister ‘margaret thatcher’ and her cabinet)
(‘thatcher’ escapes but the bomb kills 5 people and wounds 31)
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(the ‘continuity IRA’ (aka ‘CIRA’) broke from the ‘PIRA’ in ‘1986’, because the latter ended its policy on ‘abstentionism’ (thus recognizing the authority of the ‘republic of ireland))
(the ‘real IRA’ (aka ‘RIRA’), a ‘1997 breakaway’ from the ‘PIRA’ consisting of members opposed to the ‘northern ireland peace process’)
(in ‘april 2011’, former members of the ‘provisional IRA’ announced a resumption of hostilities, and that “they had now taken on the mantle of the mainstream IRA”)
(they further claimed (“we continue to do so under the name of the ‘irish republican army’…we are the ‘IRA'”) and insisted that they “were ‘entirely separate’ from the ‘real IRA’, ‘Óglaigh na hÉireann’ (aka ‘ONH’), and the ‘Continuity IRA'”)
(they claimed responsibility for the april killing of PSNI constable ‘ronan kerr’ as well as responsibility for other attacks that had previously been claimed by the ‘real IRA’ and ‘ONH’)
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