Real Irish Republican Army

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The Real Irish Republican Army, otherwise known as the Real IRA, is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation founded before the signing of the 1998 Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement by former members of the Provisional IRA who opposed the latter's 1997 cease-fire and acquiescence in the Agreement in the aftermath of a Provisional IRA Army Convention in County Donegal. The organisation has also referred to itself as the True IRA.

It originally attracted disaffected IRA members from the republican stronghold of South Armagh and some members from Derry and Strabane. Its first leader was Michael McKevitt, a former "quartermaster general" of the Provisional IRA, but he has since been imprisoned on charges of directing terrorism. Shortly after its formation, the Real IRA began attacks similar in nature to those conducted by the Provisional IRA prior to its ceasefire. However, it lacked a significant base, and was heavily infiltrated by informers, leading to a series of high profile arrests and seizures by the Garda Síochána and the Royal Ulster Constabulary in the first half of 1998. Despite this, the Real IRA succeeded in bombing Omagh town centre on August 15, 1998, killing 29 people, including at least one pregnant woman. This bombing, which the Real IRA claimed was intended to destroy Omagh's courthouse, caused a major outcry in Ireland, Britain and throughout the world. Many of the Real IRA's members abandoned the organisation, and British and Irish police co-operated on an unprecedented scale in an attempt to destroy the movement.

During 1997 and 1998 the Real IRA were responsible for a number of bombings:

The Real IRA called a ceasefire in the winter of 1998, but this was broken after less than two years when the organisation conducted a number of attacks on the island of Great Britain; a rocket propelled grenade attack took place on the MI6 headquarters in London and less than a year later a car-bomb exploded outside the BBC Television Centre in Shepherd's Bush, West London, seriously injuring eleven civilians on 3 March 2001. The explosion was captured by a BBC cameraman. The footage was broadcast on TV stations worldwide, and gained mass publicity for the group. In July 2001, following the arrests of several of its leaders, British and Irish government sources hinted that the organisation was now in disarray. In August the Real IRA exploded a bomb in Ealing Broadway station in West London and on 3 November of the same year a car bomb containing 30 kg of home-made explosives was planted in Birmingham City Centre. The bomb did not fully detonate and no-one was injured.

Since then it has become increasingly weaker. Infiltration has continued, and the movement has been unable to conduct a noticeable bomb attack. In the autumn of 2003, its imprisoned leaders called for an unconditional ceasefire, citing alleged misuse of funds and the lack of success with their resistance to the British presence in Ireland.

In recent times, the Real IRA has continued to be a thorn in the side of both the British and Irish authorities. December 2004 saw 15 fire bomb attacks against premises in Belfast attributed to the breakaway faction. Many attacks, similar in nature to those in Belfast, where carried out in Strabane, County Tyrone. The organisation has also been blamed for an increasing number of punishment attacks in Strabane. In 2005, Irish Minister for Justice Michael McDowell told the Dáil that the organization had a maximum of about 150 members [1].

The Real IRA is distinct from the Continuity IRA, another Provisional IRA splinter group founded in 1986. The 32 County Sovereignty Movement is perceived to be the political wing of the Real IRA.


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