Provisional Irish Republican Army

The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA; more commonly referred to as the IRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the army or the Ra) is an Irish Republican paramilitary organisation. Since its emergence in 1969, its stated aim has been the reunification of Ireland which it believed could not be achieved without an armed campaign directed against British rule in Northern Ireland. On July 28, 2005, the Provisional IRA Army Council announced an end to its armed campaign, stating that it would work to achieve its aims using "purely political and democratic programmes through exclusively peaceful means" and that " Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever".

Weaponry and operations

In the early days of the Troubles from around 1969-71, the PIRA was very poorly armed, having available only a handful of old fashioned weapons left over from the IRA's Border campaign of the 1950s. Such weapons included Lee Enfield rifles, Webley revolvers, and Thompson submachine guns. Their explosives were primarily gelignite - a commercial explosive which they either bought or stole from civilian sources. In the first years of the conflict, the Provisionals' main activity was providing firepower to defend nationalist areas against attacks from loyalists, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the B-Specials and the British Army. The PIRA gained much of its support from these activities, as they were widely perceived within the nationalist community as being defenders of nationalist and Catholic people against aggression.

Related Topics:
The Troubles - Border campaign - Lee Enfield - Webley - Thompson submachine gun - Gelignite - Loyalist - Royal Ulster Constabulary - B-Specials - British Army - Catholic

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As the conflict escalated in the early 1970s, the numbers recruited by the PIRA mushroomed, in response to the nationalist community's anger at events such as the introduction of internment without trial and Bloody Sunday (1972) when the British Army shot dead 13 unarmed protesters in Derry. The PIRA leadership took the opportunity to launch an offensive, believing that they could force a British withdrawal from Ireland by inflicting severe casualties, thus undermining public support in Britain for its continued presence. To this end, they secured large amounts of modern weapons from supporters in the USA and Libya - most notably AR-180 rifles. During this period, a typical PIRA operation involved sniping at British patrols, killing local police and soldiers when off-duty, and the bombing of commercial targets such as shops and businesses. The most effective tactic the PIRA developed for its bombing campaign was the car bomb, where large amounts of explosives were packed into a car, which was driven to its target and then exploded. The bloodiest example of the Provisionals' commercial bombing campaign was Bloody Friday in Belfast, where 9 people were killed. In rural areas such as South Armagh, the PIRA units most effective weapon was the "culvert-bomb" - where explosives were planted under drains in country roads. This proved so dangerous for British Army patrols that all troops in the area had to be transported by helicopter, a policy which they have continued down to the present day. Another very effective PIRA tactic devised in the 1970s was the use of home-made mortars mounted on the back of trucks that were fired at police and army bases.

Related Topics:
Internment - Bloody Sunday (1972) - Derry - Libya - AR-180 - Car bomb - Bloody Friday - Armagh - Mortars

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The early 1970s were the most violent years of the Troubles, with 1972 being the most bloody single year - over 500 people being killed. As well as its campaign against the security forces, the PIRA occasionally became involved in a "tit for tat" cycle of sectarian killings with loyalist paramilitaries. The worst example of this occurred in 1976, when a PIRA unit in Armagh shot dead ten Protestant building workers at Kingsmills, in reprisal for Ulster Volunteer Force killings of local Catholics. Incidents such as these allowed the British government to portray the conflict as one between sectarian gangs, and itself as a neutral arbiter. As the PIRA campaign continued through the 1970s and '80s, the organisation increasingly targeted off-duty RUC and Ulster Defence Regiment servicemen. Because these men were almost exclusively Protestant and unionist, these killings were also widely portrayed as a campaign of sectarian assassination. Towards the end of the troubles, the Provisionals widened their campaign even further, to include the killing of people who worked in a civilian capacity with the RUC and British Army. The bloodiest example of this came in 1992, when a PIRA bomb killed 8 building workers who were working on a British Army base at Teebane. Again, since Protestants and unionists were more likely to work for the British Army and police, this was successfully characterised as part of a campaign against Protestants.

Related Topics:
Protestant - Kingsmills - Ulster Volunteer Force - Sectarian - Ulster Defence Regiment - Teebane

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another plank of the PIRA strategy developed in the mid-seventies was the bombing of civilian targets in England. On at least two occasions, at Birmingham and Guildford, bombings of pubs (on the basis that they were used by British soldiers) caused large-scale civilian loss of life.

Related Topics:
England - Birmingham - Guildford

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the 1980s, the IRA obtained very large quantities of weapons and explosives from Colonel Gadaffi's Libya. These included Kalashnikov rifles, rocket propelled grenades, heavy Soviet made DShK machine guns and the plastic explosive Semtex. In spite of this, the PIRA was unable to substantially escalate its campaign due to the increased efficiency of the British security forces in infiltrating its structures. The organisation also suffered repeated losses at the hands of British special forces like the Special Air Service, the most spectacular being the ambush and killing of 8 armed IRA members at Loughall in 1987 (see shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland). The IRA and its political wing, Sinn Féin also suffered heavily from a campaign of assassination launched against their members by unionists paramilitaries. It has been alleged that the loyalists were aided in this campaign by elements of the security forces (see Stevens Report).

Related Topics:
Gadaffi - Libya - Kalashnikov - Rocket propelled grenade - Soviet - DShK - Semtex - Special Air Service - Loughall - Shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland - Sinn Féin - Stevens Report

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From 1990 until the ceasefire of 1994, loyalists killed more people every year in Northern Ireland than republicans, largely due to a large shipment of arms they received from the South African apartheid government (see Short Brothers). However, during the same period, the IRA also became very effective at bombing commercial targets in England, particularly London, which caused a huge amount of damage to property. Among their targets were the City of London, Canary Wharf and Manchester city centre. It has been argued that this bombing campaign helped convince the British government (who had hoped to contain the conflict to Northern Ireland with its Ulsterisation policy) to negotiate with Sinn Fein.

Related Topics:
South Africa - Apartheid - Short Brothers - London - City of London - Canary Wharf - Manchester city centre - Ulsterisation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~