43015 (Terrorism in Europe), страница 4

-The Provisional IRA (PIRA), founded in 1969 and best known for paramilitary campaigns during the 1970s-1990s

-The 'Real' IRA, a 1990s breakaway from the PIRA

-The Continuity IRA, another 1990s breakaway from the PIRA

a) The Old IRA

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) has its roots in Ireland's struggle for independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the early twentieth century. It is important to differentiate between what is termed the 'Old IRA' and the 'Official IRA' from the Provisional IRA (PIRA), a splinter-group which formed in the late 1960s in the wake of institutionalized anti-Catholic discrimination, riots and murders (mainly in Belfast and Derry).

The Irish Republican Army first emerged as the army of the Irish Republic that had been declared at the Easter Rising of 1916 and affirmed by the First Dail in January 1919. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizens Army which had existed in the second decade of the twentieth century and which had played a part in the Easter Rising.

The Irish Defence Forces, the Official and Provisional IRA and the 'Continuity' and 'Real IRA' all lay claim to the title Уglaigh na hЙireann (in the Irish language, Irish Volunteers.) Michael Collins took an active role in reorganizing the IRA. Its formation and its subsequent development were inextricably intertwined and interrelated with the subsequent political history of Ireland and Northern Ireland and any consideration of the IRA therefore needs to be set firmly in context.

In 1914 the long-running Irish nationalist demand for home rule had finally been conceded by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland government, subject to two provisos: that it would not come into being until the end of the First World War, and that the six northern counties of Ireland were to be temporarily excluded from the control of a home rule parliament in Dublin. The latter demand had resulted from a campaign of physical disobedience by northern unionists, producing a fear in Britain that the concession of home rule would lead to a civil war between nationalists and unionists.

For a minority of nationalists, the home rule conceded was judged to be too little, too late. In the Easter Rising of 1916, these nationalists staged a rebellion against British rule in Dublin and in some other isolated areas. Weapons had been supplied by Germany, under the auspices of a leading human rights campaigner, Sir Roger Casement. However the plot had been discovered and the weapons were lost when the ship carrying them was scuttled rather than allowed to be captured.

The rebellion was largely centered on Dublin. The leaders seized the Dublin General Post Office (GPO), raising a green flag bearing the legend 'Irish Republic', and proclaiming independence for Ireland. Though Republican history often claimed that the Rising and its leaders had public support, in reality there were widespread calls for the execution of the ringleaders, coming from the major Irish nationalist daily newspaper, the 'Irish Independent' and local authorities. Dubliners not only cooperated with the British troops sent to quell the uprising, but undermined the Republicans as well. Many people spat and threw stones at them as they were marched towards the transport ships that would take them to the Welsh internment camps.

However, public opinion gradually shifted, initially over the summary executions of 16 senior leaders--some of whom, such as James Connolly, were too ill to stand--and people thought complicit in the rebellion. As one observer described, "the drawn out process of executing the leaders of the rising... it was like watching blood seep from behind a closed door." Opinion shifted even more in favor of the Republicans in 1917-18 with the Conscription Crisis, when Britain tried to impose conscription on Ireland to bolster its flagging war effort.

Sinn Fйin, commonly known as the IRA's political arm, was widely credited with orchestrating the Easter rising, although the group was advocating less-than-full independence at the time. The party's then-leader, Arthur Griffith, was campaigning for a dual monarchy with Britain, a return to the status quo of the so-called 'Constitution of 1782', forged in Grattan's Parliament. The Republican survivors, under Eamon de Valera, infiltrated and took over Sinn Fйin, leading to a crisis of goals in 1917.

In a compromise agreed to at its Бrd Fheis (party conference) Sinn Fйin agreed to initially campaign for a republic. Having established one, it would let the electorate decide on whether to have a monarchy or republic; however, if they chose a monarchy, no member of the British Saxe-Coburg-Gotha/Windsor Royal Family was to be eligible for the Irish throne.

From 1916 to 1918, the two dominant nationalist movements, Sнnn Fйin and the Irish Parliamentary Party fought a tough series of battles in by-elections. Neither won a decisive victory; however, the Conscription Crisis tipped the balance in favor of Sinn Fйin. The party went on to win a clear majority of seats in the 1918 general election and most were uncontested.

Sinn Fйin MPs elected in 1918 chose not to take their seats in Westminster but instead set up an independent 'Assembly of Ireland', or 'Dбil Йireann', in Gaelic. On January 21st, 1919, this new, unofficial parliament assembled in the Mansion House in Dublin. As its first acts, the Dбil elected a prime minister (Priomh Aire), Cathal Brugha, and a inaugurated a ministry called the Aireacht).

The first shots in the Irish War of Independence were fired in Soloheadbeg, Tipperary on the 21st of January 1919 by Sean Treacy. Two RIC constables (James McDonnell and Patrick O'Connell) were killed while the South Tipperary IRA volunteer unit was attempting to seize a quantity of gelignite. Technically, the men involved were considered to be in a serious breach of IRA discipline and were liable to be court-martialed, but it was considered more politically expedient to hold them up as examples of a rejuvenated militarism. The conflict soon escalated into guerrilla warfare by what were then known as the Flying Columns in remote areas. Attacks on particularly remote Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks continued throughout 1919 and 1920, forcing the police to consolidate defensively in the larger towns, effectively placing large areas of the countryside in the hands of the Republicans.

In response, the British sent hundreds of World War I veterans to assist the RIC. The veterans reportedly wore a combination of black police uniforms and tan army uniforms, which, according to one etymology, inspired the nickname 'Black and Tans'. The brutality of the 'Black and Tans' is now legendary, although the most excessive repression attributed to the Crown's forces was often the fault of the Auxiliary Division of the Constabulary.

The IRA was also accused of excesses; in particular against the property of Loyalists in the Munster area. Both Dбil Йireann (the Irish Parliament) and Sinn Fйin were proscribed by the British government.

David Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister at the time, found himself under increasing political pressure to try to salvage something from the situation. Eamon de Valera refused to attend talks, realizing that compromise was inevitable, but that movements in that direction would hurt his image. An unexpected olive branch came from King George V, who, supported by South African statesman General Jan Smuts1, managed to get the British government to accept a radical re-draft of his proposed speech to the Northern Ireland parliament, meeting in Belfast City Hall in June 1921. The King had often protested about the methods employed by Crown forces to Lloyd George.

The speech, which called for reconciliation on all sides, changed the mood and enabled the British and Irish Republican governments to agree a truce. Negotiations on an Anglo-Irish Treaty took place in late 1921 in London. The Irish delegation was led by Arthur Griffith, as de Valera--now 'President of the Republic'--insisted that as head of state he could not attend, as King George was not leading the British delegation.

Under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, Ireland was partitioned, creating Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. Under the terms of the Anglo-Irish agreement of 6 December 1921, which ended the war (1919-1921), Northern Ireland was given the option of withdrawing from the new state, the Irish Free State, and remaining part of the United Kingdom. The Northern Ireland parliament chose to do so. A Boundary Commission was then set up to review the border.

Irish leaders expected that it would so reduce Northern Ireland's size as to make it economically unviable. Contrary to myth, partition was not the key breaking point between pro and anti-Treaty campaigners; all sides expected the Boundary Commission to 'deliver' Northern Ireland.

The actual split was over symbolic issues: could the Irish Republic be dissolved? Could Irish politicians take the Oath of Allegiance called for in the Anglo-Irish Treaty? Anti-treaty republicans under de Valera answered both questions in the negative. They withdrew from the Dбil Йireann, which had narrowly approved the Treaty.

Many of the leading members of the Old IRA, the army of the Republic, joined the new national army of the Irish Free State, while others rejoined civilian life. A small minority, continuing to claim the name 'IRA', waged a bloody civil war against the new Irish Free State civil administration, led by W.T. Cosgrave. This war killed off both well-known Republican leaders, such as Michael Collins, and the Old IRA itself, setting off a chain of splits that would occur regularly over the remainder of the 20th century.

b) The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) is a paramilitary group which aimed, through armed struggle, to achieve three goals:

-British withdrawal from Ireland,

-the political unification of Ireland through the merging of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and

-the creation of an all-Ireland socialist republic.

They are also known as the 'Provos' and the Irish Republican Army. It is most commonly referred to simply as the IRA, but several groups claim this title. In the Irish language they style themselves Уglaigh na hЙireann ("Volunteers of Ireland"), the same title used by the regular Irish Defence Forces.

The IRA's campaign against those perceived as standing in the way of its desired aims (which included the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the British Army, the Unionist establishment and, on occasion, the police and army in the Republic of Ireland) played a central role in the Troubles in Northern Ireland. It has been officially on ceasefire since 1997.

Origins

The Provisional IRA was initially a splinter group of the 'Official' IRA, which claimed descent from the Old IRA: the guerrilla army of the 1919-1922 Irish Republic. The Official IRA moved to a Marxist analysis of Irish partition, eventually leading to its refusal to defend Catholic communities from the attacks of Protestant mobs for fear of being seen as sectarian, in the mid 1960s. The PIRA held to a more pragmatic republican analysis and became larger and more successful, eventually overshadowing the original group. The name, the "Provisional" IRA arose when those who were unhappy with the IRA's Army Council formed a "Provisional Army Council" of their own, echoing in turn the "Provisional Government" proclaimed during the Easter Rising of 1916.

The split in the armed wing of the republican movement was mirrored in the separation of the republican political wing. Supporters of the PIRA split from 'Official' Sinn Fйin to form Provisional Sinn Fйin. Provisional Sinn Fйin was later known simply as Sinn Fйin while 'Official' Sinn Fйin eventually became the Workers' Party, later the Democratic Left. This group eventually merged with the Irish Labour Party, after serving in government with them.

Strength and support

The PIRA has several hundred members, as well as tens of thousands of civilian sympathisers on the island of Ireland, mostly in Ulster. However, the movement's appeal was hurt badly by more notorious PIRA bombings widely perceived as 'atrocities', such as the killing of civilians attending a Remembrance Day ceremony at the cenotaph in Enniskillen in 1987, and the killing of two children at Warrington, which led to tens of thousands of people descending on O'Connell Street in Dublin to call for an end to the PIRA's campaign of violence. In the 1990's the IRA moved to attacking economic targets, such as the Baltic Exchange and Canary Wharf, the latter of which killed two civilians.

In recent times the movement's strength has been weakened by operatives leaving the organisation to join hardline splinter groups such as the Continuity IRA and the Real IRA. If the PIRA has enjoyed mass support this has not, historically, been reflected in support for its associated political party, Sinn Fйin, which, until recently, did not receive the support of more than a minority of nationalists in Northern Ireland, or of voters in general in the Republic of Ireland. Sinn Fein now has 24 members of the Northern Ireland Assembly (out of 108), 4 Northern Ireland MPs (out of 18) and 5 TDs (members of the parliament of the Republic of Ireland, out of 166). This is widely perceived as support for the IRA ceasefire and some commentators maintain this support would decrease if the IRA returned to violence.

In the past, the PIRA has received funds and arms from sympathisers in the United States, notably from the Noraid (Irish Northern Aid) organisation. The PIRA has also, on occasion, received assistance from foreign governments and paramilitary groups, including considerable training and arms from Libya and assistance from the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). U.S. support has been weakened by the so-called "War against Terrorism", the events of the 11th September 2001 and the discovery of three men (two known members of the IRA and the Sinn Fein representative in Cuba) in Colombia, allegedly training Colombian FARC guerrillas. These men were eventually acquitted of aiding FARC, and convicted solely on the lesser charge of possessing false passports, however the prosecution appealed the acquittal and the men have now been convicted and sentenced to long jail terms. The three men disappeared while on bail and their whereabouts are still not known. The case was controversial for several reasons, including the heavy reliance on the testimony of a former FARC member and dubious forensic evidence. There was also considerable political pressure from the right-wing government of Alvaro Uribe, members of which had called for a guilty verdict. The organisation has also been accused of raising funds through smuggling, racketeering and bank robberies.

In February 2005 prominent PIRA members were denounced by relatives of Robert McCartney leading to Gerry Adams for the first time calling for the Catholic Community in Northern Ireland to give evidence against the PIRA.

The Belfast Agreement

The PIRA cease-fire in 1997 formed part of a process that led to the 1998 Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. The Agreement has among its aims that all extra-legal paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland cease their activities and disarm by May 2000.