83 Facts About Provisional IRA

Irish Republican Army, known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reunification and bring about an independent, socialist republic encompassing all of Ireland.

Provisional IRA emerged in December 1969, due to a split within the previous incarnation of the IRA and the broader Irish republican movement.

The Provisional IRA initially focused on defence of Catholic areas, but it began an offensive campaign in 1970 that was aided by weapons supplied by Irish American sympathisers and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Provisional IRA declared a final ceasefire in July 1997, after which its political wing Sinn Fein was admitted into multi-party peace talks on the future of Northern Ireland.

Original Provisional IRA was formed in 1913 as the Irish Volunteers, at a time when all of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom.

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Chief-of-staff Cathal Goulding wanted the Provisional IRA to adopt a socialist agenda and become involved in politics, while traditional republicans such as Sean Mac Stiofain wanted to increase recruitment and rebuild the Provisional IRA.

The Provisional IRA had been poorly armed and failed to properly defend Catholic areas from Protestant attacks, which had been considered one of its roles since the 1920s.

IRA split into "Provisional" and "Official" factions in December 1969, after an IRA convention was held in Boyle, County Roscommon, Republic of Ireland.

The Provisional IRA issued their first public statement on 28 December 1969, stating:.

The Provisional IRA maintained the principles of the pre-1969 IRA, considering both British rule in Northern Ireland and the government of the Republic of Ireland to be illegitimate, and the Army Council to be the provisional government of the all-island Irish Republic.

The Provisional IRA recruited many young nationalists from Northern Ireland who had not been involved in the Provisional IRA before, but had been radicalised by the violence that broke out in 1969.

The IRA adopted the phoenix as the symbol of the Irish republican rebirth in 1969, one of its slogans was "out of the ashes rose the Provisionals", representing the IRA's resurrection from the ashes of burnt-out Catholic areas of Belfast.

The Official Provisional IRA was opposed to such a campaign because they felt it would lead to sectarian conflict, which would defeat their strategy of uniting the workers from both sides of the sectarian divide.

The Provisional IRA's strategy was to use force to cause the collapse of the Northern Ireland government and to inflict such heavy casualties on the British Army that the British government would be forced by public opinion to withdraw from Ireland.

In October 1970 the Provisional IRA began a bombing campaign against economic targets; by the end of the year there had been 153 explosions.

The Provisional IRA believed that the bombing campaign would tie down British soldiers in static positions guarding potential targets, preventing their deployment in counter-insurgency operations.

New recruits saw the Official IRA as existing for the purpose of defence in contrast to the Provisional IRA as existing for the purpose of attack, increased recruitment and defections from the Official IRA to the Provisional IRA led to the latter becoming the dominant organisation.

In late 1972 and early 1973 the Provisional IRA's leadership was being depleted by arrests on both sides of the Irish border, with Mac Stiofain, O Bradaigh and McGuinness all imprisoned for Provisional IRA membership.

Occasional Provisional IRA violence occurred during the ceasefire, with bombs in Belfast, Derry, and South Armagh.

The Provisional IRA was involved in tit for tat sectarian killings of Protestant civilians, in retaliation for sectarian killings by loyalist paramilitaries.

The younger generation viewed the ceasefire as being disastrous for the Provisional IRA, causing the organisation irreparable damage and taking it close to being defeated.

In 1977 the Provisional IRA evolved a new strategy which they called the "Long War", which would remain their strategy for the rest of the Troubles.

The 1977 edition of the Green Book, an induction and training manual used by the Provisional IRA, describes the strategy of the "Long War" in these terms:.

The Provisional IRA aimed to keep Northern Ireland unstable, which would frustrate the British objective of installing a power sharing government as a solution to the Troubles.

The Chelsea Barracks bombing in London in October 1981 killed two civilians and injured twenty-three soldiers; a week later the Provisional IRA struck again in London by an assassination attempt on Lieutenant General Steuart Pringle, the Commandant General Royal Marines.

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In 1987 the Provisional IRA began attacking British military targets in mainland Europe, beginning with the Rheindahlen bombing, which was followed by approximately twenty other gun and bomb attacks aimed at British Armed Forces personnel and bases between 1988 and 1990.

Provisional IRA responded to Brooke's speech by declaring a three-day ceasefire over Christmas, the first in fifteen years.

On 31 August 1994 the Provisional IRA announced a "complete cessation of military operations" on the understanding that Sinn Fein would be included in political talks for a settlement.

The British government refused to admit Sinn Fein to multi-party talks before the Provisional IRA decommissioned its weapons, and a standoff began as the Provisional IRA refused to disarm before a final peace settlement had been agreed.

The Provisional IRA regarded themselves as being undefeated and decommissioning as an act of surrender, and stated decommissioning had never been mentioned prior to the ceasefire being declared.

The Provisional IRA began decommissioning in a process that was monitored by Canadian General John de Chastelain's Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, with some weapons being decommissioned on 23 October 2001 and 8 April 2002.

At the beginning of February 2005, the Provisional IRA declared that it was withdrawing a decommissioning offer from late 2004.

The Provisional IRA stated it would complete the process of disarmament as quickly as possible.

The Provisional IRA invited two independent witnesses to view the secret disarmament work, Catholic priest Father Alec Reid and Protestant minister Reverend Harold Good.

Jane's Information Group estimated that the Provisional IRA weaponry decommissioned in September 2005 included:.

Provisional IRA added that some of its structure remains, but that the group is committed to following a peaceful political path and is not engaged in criminal activity nor directing violence.

Provisional IRA pointed out that some of its members have engaged in criminal activity or violence for their own, individual ends.

The Provisional IRA used a variety of bombs during its armed campaign, such as car and truck bombs, time bombs, and booby traps, using explosives including ANFO, gelignite, and the plastic explosive Semtex.

The Provisional IRA's development of mortar tactics was a response to the heavy fortifications on RUC and British Army bases, as Provisional IRA mortars generally fired indirectly they were able to bypass some perimeter security measures.

Provisional IRA was mainly active in Northern Ireland, although it attacked targets in England and mainland Europe, and limited activity took place in the Republic of Ireland.

The Provisional IRA was blamed for the Abercorn Restaurant bombing in March 1972, when a bomb exploded without warning killing two women and injuring many people.

Provisional IRA was responsible for more deaths than any other organisation during the Troubles.

Provisional IRA referred to its ordinary members as volunteers, to reflect the Provisional IRA being an irregular army which people were not forced to join and could leave at any time.

Until the late 1970s, Provisional IRA volunteers were organised in units based on conventional military structures.

Similarly, the Northern Ireland left-wing politician Eamonn McCann has remarked that the Provisional IRA was considered a non-socialist IRA compared to the Official IRA.

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Many of the imprisoned Provisional IRA members saw parallels between their own struggle and that of Nelson Mandela and were encouraged by Mandela's use of compromise following his ascent to power in South Africa to consider compromise themselves.

Provisional IRA is a proscribed organisation in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act 2000, and an unlawful organisation in the Republic of Ireland under the Offences Against the State Acts, where Provisional IRA volunteers are tried in the non-jury Special Criminal Court.

The Provisional IRA rejected the authority of the courts in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and its standing orders did not allow volunteers on trial in a criminal court to enter a plea or recognise the authority of the court, doing so could lead to expulsion from the Provisional IRA.

Provisional IRA members were often refused travel visas to enter the United States, due to previous criminal convictions or because the Immigration and Nationality Act bars the entry of people who are members of an organisation which advocates the overthrow of a government by force.

The Provisional IRA prefer the terms freedom fighter, soldier, activist, or volunteer for its members.

The Provisional IRA saw the Irish War of Independence as a guerrilla war which accomplished some of its aims, with some remaining "unfinished business".

The British Army estimates the Provisional IRA had 500 volunteers in July 1971,130 in Derry and 340 in Belfast, journalist Ed Moloney states by the end of the year the Provisional IRA in Belfast had over 1,200 volunteers.

Journalist Brendan O'Brien states by the late 1980s the Provisional IRA had roughly 300 active volunteers and 450 more in support roles, while historian Richard English states in 1988 the Provisional IRA was believed to have no more than thirty experienced gunmen and bombers, with a further twenty volunteers with less experience and 500 more in support roles.

Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, was a supplier of arms to the Provisional IRA, donating two shipments of arms in the early 1970s, and another five in the mid-1980s.

Maria McGuire states the Provisional IRA received fifty revolvers from ETA in exchange for explosives training.

In 1973 the Provisional IRA was accused by the Spanish police of providing explosives for the assassination of Spanish prime minister Luis Carrero Blanco in Madrid, and the following year an ETA spokesman told German magazine Der Spiegel they had "very good relations" with the Provisional IRA.

The Provisional IRA received support from the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1970s, with volunteers attending training camps in the Middle East.

PLO leader Yasser Arafat distanced himself from the Provisional IRA following the assassination of Lord Mountbatten in 1979.

In May 1996, the Federal Security Service, Russia's internal security service, accused Estonia of arms smuggling, and claimed that the Provisional IRA had bought weapons from arms dealers linked to Estonia's volunteer defence force, Kaitseliit.

In 2005 a commander in the National Army of Colombia stated Provisional IRA techniques were being used all over Colombia by FARC, and British military experts confirmed bombs used by FARC had previously been used by the Provisional IRA.

Provisional IRA publicly condemned sectarianism and sectarian attacks, however some Provisional IRA members did carry out sectarian attacks.

Many in the Provisional IRA opposed these sectarian attacks, but others deemed them effective in preventing similar attacks on Catholics.

Robert White, a professor at the Indiana University, states the Provisional IRA was generally not a sectarian organisation, and Rachel Kowalski from the Department of War Studies, King's College London states that the Provisional IRA acted in a way that was mostly blind to religious diversity.

Henry Patterson, a professor at the University of Ulster, concludes that while the Provisional IRA's campaign was unavoidably sectarian, it did not amount to ethnic cleansing.

McKearney argues that due to the British government's Ulsterisation policy increasing the role of the locally recruited RUC and UDR, the Provisional IRA had no choice but to target them because of their local knowledge, but acknowledges that Protestants viewed this as a sectarian attack on their community.

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The Provisional IRA raised funds by running legitimate businesses such as taxi firms, nightclubs, offices, and nursing homes.

Provisional IRA supporters argue that as it was a clandestine organisation it was forced to use extralegal methods of fundraising, which were justified in order to achieve a political goal.

Generally, the Provisional IRA was against drug dealing and prostitution, because it would be unpopular within Catholic communities and for moral reasons.

The chief of the RUC Drugs Squad, Kevin Sheehy, said the Provisional IRA tried to prevent volunteers being directly involved with drugs, and noted one occasion when an Provisional IRA member caught with a small amount of cannabis was "disowned and humiliated" in his local area.

The Provisional IRA targeted drug dealers with punishment shootings and ordered them to leave Ireland, and some were killed using the covername Direct Action Against Drugs.

However, there are claims the Provisional IRA "licensed" certain dealers to operate and forced them to pay protection money.

In 2008, the IMC stated that the Provisional IRA was no longer involved in criminality, but that some members have engaged in criminality for their own ends, without the sanction or support of the Provisional IRA.

The Provisional IRA sought to minimise contact between residents and the RUC, because residents might pass on information or be forced to become a police informer.

The Provisional IRA set up arbitration panels that would adjudicate and investigate complaints from locals about criminal or 'anti-social' activities.

Scappaticci was said to be a high-level Provisional IRA informer working for the British Army's Force Research Unit, while he was head of the Provisional IRA's Internal Security Unit, which interrogated and killed suspected informers.

Provisional IRA regarded informers as traitors, and a threat to the organisation and lives of its members.

The Provisional IRA usually killed informers with a single shot to the head, and left many of their bodies in public to deter other informers.

In March 1999 the Provisional IRA apologised for the "prolonged anguish" caused to the families of the Disappeared, and stated it had identified the burial places of nine people, including the most high-profile victim, Jean McConville, a Catholic civilian and widowed mother-of-ten.

Former Provisional IRA volunteers are involved in various dissident republican splinter groups, which are active in the low-level dissident Irish republican campaign.

The oldest dissident group is the Continuity Provisional IRA, which formed in 1986 following a split in the republican movement, over the decision to allow members, if elected, to take seats in Dail Eireann.

The Real IRA was formed in November 1997 when senior Provisional IRA members, including quartermaster-general Michael McKevitt, resigned over acceptance of the Mitchell Principles.

The Real Provisional IRA is best known for the 1998 Omagh bombing which killed 29 civilians, and the 2009 Massereene Barracks shooting which killed two British soldiers.

In 2011 a group calling itself "the Provisional IRA" claimed responsibility for the murder of Ronan Kerr, a Catholic member of the PSNI.