Analysis: from the Neutral IRA to dalliances with the Nazis, many different organisations have used the IRA name over the years
Sinn Fein TD and chairperson of the Dáil's Committee on Public Accounts, Brian Stanley, received a barrage of criticism for insensitive commentary on the Provisional IRA attack near Warrenpoint in Co Down, in August 1979. The attack involved the detonation of two separate devices - the second to target the army unit deployed to assist victims of the first bomb - and killed 18 British soldiers, five of whom were still teenagers. Stanley subsequently apologised for his comments, and deleted the offending tweet and his social media account.
Protests that glorifying Provisional IRA violence is neither morally appropriate, nor conducive to fostering good relations with the Unionist community, were to be expected. However, some also disputed his attempt to equate this Provisional IRA action with the famous Kilmichael Ambush carried out by the IRA during the War of Independence. Stanley claimed that both were ‘IRA’ attacks, implying that the IRA (1919-1922) and the Provisional IRA were the same organisation. Many would contest this interpretation and not just historians and political opponents, but also other paramilitary groups that have claimed to be the ‘IRA’.
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From RTÉ One's Nine News, Brian Stanley apologies for the 'insensitive nature' of a tweet he posted relating to the deaths of British soldiers in Ireland.
The (Old) IRA
Contrary to popular belief, there was technically no organisation operating under the name 'Irish Republican Army' or ‘IRA’ during the War of Independence. Rather, the ‘Army of the Irish Republic’ was officially known as Óglaigh na hÉireann (Irish Volunteers). Granted, the term ‘IRA’ was used as shorthand by the media, Sinn Féin politicians, and many Volunteers. Nevertheless, the fact remains: ‘Óglaigh na hÉireann/Irish Volunteers’ was the correct title of the organisation that fought against Crown Forces, until a truce was agreed in July 1921.
However, this ‘IRA’ did not survive the tensions provoked by the Anglo-Irish Treaty. In the early months of 1922, the organisation broke into three factions: the pro-Treaty IRA (that morphed into the Army/Defence Forces of the new Irish State), and briefly two separate anti-Treaty IRAs (which coalesced in June 1922 to violently oppose the state). Later, a fourth faction, the Neutral IRA, also emerged, though it quickly disbanded. The ensuing civil war resulted in military victory for the Irish Army in May 1923.
The anti-Treaty IRA
Although defeated, the anti-Treaty IRA remained unbowed. Initially, the organisation paid lip service to the arguments of the anti-Treaty Sinn Féin party. They claimed the ‘de jure government’ of Ireland was constituted by those former members of the Second Dáil who voted against the Treaty in January 1922, and had refused to enter the Third Dáil (of the now independent Irish State). From this standpoint, Éamon de Valera remained the ‘President’ of a notional 32-county all-Ireland ‘Republic’. The Irish State, and the entity of Northern Ireland, were to be ignored or opposed, as appropriate.
The paramilitary group decided to stablish an alliance with Nazi Germany during World War Two
By 1925, however, various elements within the anti-Treaty IRA had become disillusioned with anti-Treaty Sinn Féin, and the two organisations parted ways. Whilst its primary focus was on building military strength, anti-Treaty IRA did not ignore politics completely. It supported de Valera's new Fianna Fáil party in the early 1930s, and sponsored two (unsuccessful) political parties: Cumann Poblachta na hÉireann in 1936 and Coras na Poblachta in 1940. There was also something of a rapprochement with old allies in 1938, when seven surviving recalcitrant anti-Treaty members from the Second Dáil (who still regarded themselves as the real government of Ireland since 1922) signed over their 'authority’ to the the anti-Treaty IRA's Army Council.
The IRA and the Nazis
By the mid-1930s, the uneasy alliance between Fianna Fáil and the anti-Treaty IRA had all but ended. The nadir came following the paramilitary group’s decision to establish an effective alliance with Nazi Germany during World War Two. The Government then suppressed, and almost destroyed, the organisation.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's History Show, Catriona Crowe talks about 1934 documents from the National Archives relating to tensions between the IRA and the Blueshirts
By the mid-1950s, however, it had regrouped, infiltrated the moribund anti-Treaty Sinn Féin party, and launched a violent campaign to destroy the Northern Ireland state. The failure of this campaign changed the movement's direction. The leadership adopted a Marxist approach, and advocated pragmatic recognition of the parliaments in Dublin, Belfast and London.
In December 1969, anti-Treaty IRA leadership voted to drop the ‘abstentionist’ policy and allow anti-Treaty Sinn Féin to sit in parliament. This prompted a spilt: those supporting the leadership remained in what now became known as the ‘Official IRA' whose political wing became known as Official Sinn Féin. The Official IRA carried out a violent campaign against British forces in Northern Ireland until 1972, before calling a permanent ceasefire in May of that year. Whilst the organisation remained in existence, it had largely faded into the background by the late 1970s. Though a section of the Official IRA decommissioned its weaponry in early 2010, it is not clear exactly when – or if – it ever formally disbanded.
The Provisional IRA
Those who refused to abandon abstentionism in 1969 left the Official IRA, and formed a new paramilitary group: the Provisional IRA with its own political wing, Provisional Sinn Féin. The Provisionals received an early ideological boost in December 1969 when the last surviving recalcitrant member of the Second Dáil, Thomas Maguire, effectively withdrew the ‘authority’ he and the six other (now deceased) members had given the Army Council of anti-Treaty IRA in 1938. Instead, Maguire bestowed it on the new Provisional IRA Army Council, which now claimed to be the ‘de jure government’ of Ireland.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime in October 2015, John Mooney, Crime Correspondent with The Sunday Times on the current status of the IRA
For close to 25 years, the Provisional IRA maintained a near continuous violent campaign to force a British withdrawal from Northern Ireland. In 1986, the Provisional IRA leadership opted to allow Provisional Sinn Fein candidates to accept seats in the Irish parliament, which was later followed by acceptance of a new Northern Irish Assembly also. The peace process in the 1990s led to Provisional IRA dismantling much of its paramilitary structure, and the organisation formally ended its armed campaign in July 2005. Irish and British security services believe that the Provisional IRA still exists, but is committed to peaceful political activity.
The ‘Continuity’ ‘Real’ and 'New' IRA
The Provisional IRA's abandonment of abstentionism in 1986 prompted some to leave the organisation, and form a new group, later dubbed the ‘Continuity IRA’. Enter the then ninetysomething Thomas Maguire who disagreed with the Provisional IRA leadership and indicated that the ‘executive powers’ he first relinquished in 1938 were being transferred now to the Army Council of the Continuity IRA.
Though limited in membership, and despite some additional splintering in recent years, a Continuity IRA remains in existence. It does not recognise the legitimacy of the Irish parliament, regards its own Army Council as Ireland’s true government, and is committed to forcing a British withdrawal from Northern Ireland.
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From RTÉ Archives, Tom McCaughren reports for RTÉ News on the Real IRA's declaration of a permanent ceasefire in September 1998
However, this was not to be the last schism. In 1997, as the Provisional IRA prepared to accept an agreement that fell short of a united Ireland, a section of the organisation left to form yet another group, which quickly acquired the moniker of the ‘Real IRA’.
In ideological terms, the Real IRA's approach to the Irish State is somewhat more ‘tactical’ in nature than the ‘fundamentalist’ form of the Continuity IRA. Nevertheless, it also maintains that an armed campaign is necessary to force a British withdrawal from Northern Ireland. Following a number of internal splits, elements of the Real IRA had coalesced with other militant groupings, and some media outlets began referring to it as the ‘New IRA’.
READ: Why there's still support for dissident republican groups
READ: A guide to the many groups who've used the Sinn Féin name
Predictably, each of these organisations contest the right of the others to use the ‘IRA’ name at all. In this, they share at least one perspective with the Irish authorities. Under Irish counter-terrorist legislation, any group that styles itself as the ‘IRA’ is an unlawful organisation, and membership of such a body can result in imprisonment.
Since the end of the Civil War in 1923, there have been no less than five distinct groups that claimed to be the ‘IRA’. However, for the vast majority of Irish citizens, irrespective of their political persuasions, there is only one organisation that may legitimately claim to be ‘Óglaigh na hÉireann’: the Defence Forces of the Irish State.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
