The New Irish Republican Army, or New IRA, is a
paramilitary
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
organisation founded in July 2012. It was formed after the
Real Irish Republican Army
The Real Irish Republican Army, or Real IRA (RIRA), is a dissident Irish republican paramilitary group that aims to bring about a United Ireland. It formed in 1997 following a split in the Provisional IRA by dissident members, who rejected the ...
(RIRA),
Republican Action Against Drugs
Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) was an Irish republican vigilante group active mainly in Derry and the surrounding area, including parts of counties Londonderry and Tyrone in Northern Ireland, and parts of County Donegal in the Republic ...
(RAAD) and other small
Irish republican
Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate.
The develop ...
paramilitary groups merged.
History
Origin
On 26 July 2012, it was reported that
Republican Action Against Drugs
Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) was an Irish republican vigilante group active mainly in Derry and the surrounding area, including parts of counties Londonderry and Tyrone in Northern Ireland, and parts of County Donegal in the Republic ...
(RAAD) and other small republican militant groups were merging with the Real IRA. As before, the group would continue to refer to itself as "the Irish Republican Army".
After the merger, the media began to refer to the group as the "New IRA". As well as RAAD, the alliance includes an east
Tyrone group thought to be responsible for killing PSNI officer
Ronan Kerr in 2011, and a
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
group who badly wounded PSNI officer Peadar Heffron in 2010.
Membership
The PSNI reckoned that the new group has a membership of "between 250 and 300 military activists, backed up by associates". In November 2012 it claimed responsibility for shooting dead a
Prison Officer
A prison officer or corrections officer is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation of prisoners. They are responsible for the care, custody, and control of individuals who have been ...
near
Lurgan
Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population ...
, the first prison officer to be killed since 1993.
Incidents
On 3 September 2012 prominent Real IRA member Alan Ryan was shot dead in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
.
Gardaí believed that he had been involved in a feud with major crime gangs from whom he was trying to extort money. Following Ryan's death an internal feud developed in the Real IRA. Ryan's replacement as leader and another associate were shot and wounded in November 2012, allegedly on the orders of the Northern leadership. In March 2013, another prominent former Real IRA member, Peter Butterly from Dunleer, was shot dead; three Dublin men, allegedly from the Alan Ryan faction, were charged with his murder and Real IRA membership.
In February 2014 the group sent seven letter bombs to British Army recruitment offices in south-east England; the first time republicans had struck in Britain since 2001. The following month, a PSNI landrover was hit by an
explosively formed projectile
An explosively formed penetrator (EFP), also known as an explosively formed projectile (EFP), a self-forging warhead, or a self-forging fragment, is the product of a shaped charge designed to penetrate armor effectively. As the name suggests, the ...
in Belfast. A civilian car was also hit by debris, but there were no injuries. The Real IRA claimed responsibility. In November 2014, a PSNI armoured jeep was hit by another 'horizontal mortar' in Londonderry, and in Belfast a PSNI landrover was attacked with a homemade
rocket-propelled grenade
A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are a ...
(RPG) launcher.
In April–May 2015, there were two Real IRA bomb attacks in Londonderry. One exploded at the
Probation Board offices, and two partially exploded at the perimeter fence of a British Army Reserve base. Later in May, four men, one an alleged associate of Real IRA leader
Michael McKevitt
Michael McKevitt ( ga, Mícheál Mac Dhaibhéid) (4 September 1949 – 2 January 2021) was an Irish republican and paramilitary leader. He was the Provisional Irish Republican Army's Quartermaster General. Due to the Provisional IRA's involvem ...
, were reportedly arrested during an explosives seizure by police in Northern Ireland. In August, a firebomb exploded in a
post van parked inside
Palace Barracks
Palace Barracks, Holywood is a British Army installation in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland.
History
Palace Barracks occupies the site of a palatial house known as "Ardtullagh", the home of the Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore until i ...
,
Holywood
Holy Wood or Holywood may refer to:
Places
* Holywood, County Down, a town and townland in Northern Ireland
** Holywood, County Down (civil parish), a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland
** Holywood railway station (Northern Ireland)
* ...
, a British military base which is home to MI5 in Northern Ireland. The firebomb destroyed the van and set nearby vehicles and garages on fire. On Halloween morning, three men were arrested and charged with IRA membership in addition to firearm offences. In November, a PSNI vehicle in Belfast was riddled with automatic gunfire, fired from an
AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...
. On Christmas Day in North Belfast, police came under fire again but were not injured. The attacker was charged with attempted murder. Days later, on 27 November 2015, police in West Belfast came under heavy fire yet again. No officers were wounded because of the armour-plating and bullet-proof glass. The Real IRA or another
dissident republican
Dissident republicans, renegade republicans, anti-Agreement republicans or anti-ceasefire republicans ( ga, poblachtach easaontach) are Irish republicans who do not support the current peace agreements in Northern Ireland. The agreements follow ...
group was suspected to be behind the attack.
On 4 March 2016, a prison officer (Adrian Ismay) died of a heart attack in hospital, having received serious wounds following a booby-trap bomb detonating under his van on Hillsborough Drive, East Belfast 11 days earlier. The 'New' IRA claimed responsibility and said it was a response to the alleged mistreatment of republican prisoners at
Maghaberry Prison
HMP Maghaberry was built on the site of RAF Maghaberry, a World War II airfield near Lisburn, Northern Ireland, which was used as a flying station by the Royal Air Force and also as a transit airfield for the United States Army Air Forces. At t ...
. It added that the officer was targeted because he trained prison officers at Maghaberry.
In April 2016, Gardaí arrested two significant members of the New IRA and seized €10,000. In April, 2016, explosives linked to the New IRA were found in Dublin and several people were questioned by police. The New IRA declared that all criminals were legitimate targets after Alan Ryan's brother, Vincent Ryan, was shot dead. In April 2016, the New IRA were blamed for badly injuring a man in a punishment shooting in Derry, shortly after a man had been killed by a dissident Republican attack in Ardoyne. In May 2016 three men were shot in paramilitary style attacks in republican areas of Belfast during a 24-hour period, leaving two injured and one dead. On 25 April a New IRA member, Michael Barr was shot dead in west Dublin. Gardaí suspected Barr was shot dead because it was believed by the Kinahan cartel he provided a “safe house” to one of the gunmen in the Regency Hotel attack. Fifteen people were arrested in Northern Ireland following a paramilitary funeral for him.
The terrorist threat level in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
was upgraded to "substantial" on 11 May 2016, with the New IRA's continuing threats being part of the reason by Home Secretary
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
and
MI5
The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...
.
On 16 May 2016 a 'terrorist hide' was found by civilians in Capanagh Forest near Larne, Antrim, possibly belonging to the New IRA. It was a very substantial cache.
In June 2016 it was revealed that a five-man New IRA hit team were in Dublin's north inner city looking to murder two leading gangsters after one of their associates was shot dead in a gangland feud. Sources said the murder squad from the North spent several days and nights looking for their targets in the streets. In September 2016 a close associate of Alan Ryan, who had been arrested and imprisoned following the Stamullen raid, was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment in Belfast for possession of a sub-machine gun and ammunition, after getting off a bus from Dublin.
In Cork City at 5pm on 7 December 2016, former Chief of Staff of the RIRA southern command, Aidan "The Beast" O’Driscoll, was shot and killed in the street by two masked gunmen. O'Driscoll had been shot in the leg in June 2013 in what the New IRA claimed was a punishment-style shooting for "unrepublican conduct" before he had stepped-down from command in 2012.
On 7 June 2017, Gardaí foiled a serious IRA bomb plot after discovering six kilos of
Semtex
Semtex is a general-purpose plastic explosive containing RDX and Pentaerythritol tetranitrate, PETN. It is used in commercial blasting, demolition, and in certain military applications.
Semtex was developed and manufactured in Czechoslovakia, or ...
, "enough to blow up a street".
On 1 September 2017, the Police Service of Northern Ireland warned that the group had developed a new type of bomb.
In December 2017, MI5 said that Northern Ireland has the highest level of terrorist activity of anywhere in Europe with attacks being disrupted weekly. Over 250 seizures, thwarted attacks, and counter-terrorist operations are reported to have been undertaken by British security services.
The group remained active in 2018, with it and the
Continuity IRA
The Continuity Irish Republican Army (Continuity IRA or CIRA), styling itself as the Irish Republican Army (), is an Irish republican paramilitary group that aims to bring about a united Ireland. It claims to be a direct continuation of the or ...
claiming they have no plans to announce a ceasefire along the lines of that of the
ONH. However, both groups have suffered major setbacks and inactivity due to feuding and heavy police intervention, and have likewise often failed to commit successful attacks due to antiquated equipment and member inexperience.
In July 2018 the New IRA claimed responsibility for a spate of gun and bomb attacks at police officers during the
riots in Derry.
On 19 January 2019, there was a car bomb attack at the
Bishop Street Courthouse
The Bishop Street Courthouse is a judicial facility in Bishop Street, Derry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is a Grade A listed building.
History
The building, which was designed by John Bowden in the Neoclassical style, was first use ...
in Derry, for which the New IRA are the "main line of enquiry". Four men were arrested in connection with the bombing. The following month, two men were shot in the city of Derry, in what was described as a "paramilitary attack" by New IRA members.
On 5 March 2019 at around 12:00 pm three explosive devices were found in packages that were found in
Jiffy bags at
Waterloo station
Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of t ...
and
City Airport in London, as well as a separate package found nearby
Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...
. It is suspected that the New IRA is behind the attack because of several postage stamps on all of the packages that can be traced to Irish post offices. MI5 warned that the possibility of Republicans being behind the suspicious packages as "possible". Also on 5 March, a parcel bomb was found in the Store Room of the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
at around 11:40 am. The West Blocks of the university were evacuated by the police and the bomb was safely detonated under a controlled explosion by a bomb disposal unit. Nobody was injured. On 11 March 2019, it was reported that a group stylising themselves as the IRA claimed to be behind the explosive devices, stating that they had sent 5 devices, but only 4 had been discovered. The fifth device was discovered on 22 March in a postal sorting office in the Irish city of
Limerick
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
. The device was addressed to
Charing Cross railway station
Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a central London railway terminus between the Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South Eastern Main Line to Dover via Ashf ...
in central London.
On 18 April 2019, rioting took place on the streets of the Creggan after PSNI launched a raid looking for munitions. It is believed the New IRA incited the riots; they were responsible for the fatal shooting of journalist
Lyra McKee
Lyra Catherine McKee ( 31 March 1990 – 18 April 2019) was a journalist from Northern Ireland who wrote for several publications about the consequences of the Troubles. She also served as an editor for Mediagazer, a news aggregator website. On ...
—who was not the intended victim—and later claimed responsibility and issued a statement of apology to her family and friends.
Using their traditional
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...
commemorations various other Republican groupings including
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
and
Éirígí
Éirígí (), officially Éirígí For A New Republic, is a socialist republican political party in Ireland. The party name, , means "Arise" or "Rise Up" in Irish, and is a reference to the slogan "The great only appear great because we are on ...
expressly called for an end to all armed actions, while others including the 32 County Sovereignty Movement condemned the attack without adding a call for the end of violence. The
Irish Republican Socialist Party
The Irish Republican Socialist Party or IRSP ( ga, Páirtí Poblachtach Sóisialach na hÉireann) is a Marxist-Leninist and republican party in Ireland. It is often referred to as the "political wing" of the Irish National Liberation Army (I ...
cancelled its Easter Rising commemoration in Derry as a direct result of Lyra McKee's death.
Republican murals around the city of Derry, including the famous
Free Derry Corner
Free Derry Corner is a historical landmark in the Bogside neighbourhood of Derry, Northern Ireland, which lies in the intersection of the Lecky Road, Rossville Street and Fahan Street. A free-standing gable wall commemorates Free Derry, a self ...
gable end wall, were amended over the weekend following Lyra McKee's death expressing a community desire to move away from the violence of the past and disowning the dissident groupings who desire a return to it. These events have been cited as a sign of change in attitude towards dissidents in traditionally Republican areas.
On 7 June 2019, the New IRA claimed responsibility for a potentially lethal bomb discovered on 1 June fitted under the car of a police officer at a golf club in east Belfast. A cross-border investigation was launched.
On 18 August 2020, ten suspects were arrested in Northern Ireland as part of an all-island operation against the New IRA.
The PSNI and Gardaí joined forces for 48 hours to carry out arrests and searches.
[ The PSNI said that officers had made a number of arrests under the Terrorism Act across Northern Ireland in relation to New IRA activities.][ Those arrested were held in PSNI custody suites in Belfast.][ The PSNI raided properties in Derry, East Tyrone and Belfast.][ In the Republic Gardaí raided properties in Dublin, Cork, Kerry and Laois but arrested nobody.][
On April 21, 2021, the group said that it had planted an explosive device behind a PSNI officer's car in Dungiven. The device was made safe by the bomb disposal unit.
On 17 February 2022, the group claimed responsibility for shooting a man in the legs in ]Strabane
Strabane ( ; ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
Strabane had a population of 13,172 at the 2011 Census. It lies on the east bank of the River Foyle. It is roughly midway from Omagh, Derry and Letterkenny. The River Foyle marks ...
the week before.
See also
*Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...
*Saoradh
Saoradh (, "Liberation") is a far-left political party and pressure group formed by dissident Irish republicans in 2016. It is active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Police Service of Northern Ireland and independent ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Irish Republican Army
2012 establishments in Ireland
Dissident Irish republican campaign
Irish Republican Army
Irish republican militant groups
Organisations designated as terrorist by the United Kingdom
Organizations based in Europe designated as terrorist
Organizations established in 2012
Political schisms
Proscribed paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland
Proscribed paramilitary organisations in the Republic of Ireland