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What is the IRA and what has it fought for?
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is the name that has been used by a number of paramilitary groups in Ireland and Northern Ireland, all with the aim of ending British rule and establishing an independent republic within a unified Ireland. Willing to use violence – even regarding it a necessary tactic – the IRA has been classified as illegal and a terrorist organisation by the British and Irish authorities.
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When was the IRA formed?
The movement for ‘home rule’, or self-government of Ireland, gained momentum in the 19th century, and gave way to revolutionary efforts in the 20th century. Following the Easter Rising of 1916 – a failed uprising in Dublin against British rule – existing paramilitary groups such as the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army were succeeded by a new group, the IRA, in 1919.
New York Remembers Bobby Sands
Bairbre de Bruin pictured in front of Bobby Sands mural on the side of Sinn Féin headquarters.
Bairbre de Bruin pictured in front of Bobby Sands mural on the side of Sinn Féin headquarters. By Irish America Staff
Plans to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of
hunger striker Bobby Sands on May 5 in New York, have Unionists hot under the
collar.
The Irish papers reported that Gerald Kelly, the Belfast
painter who together with other artists will create a mural to Sands, had been
given a $75,000 grant from the City of New York.
Elaine Loughlin: Young Fine Gael is male, stale and increasingly right-wing irishexaminer.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from irishexaminer.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
World
Sinn Féin funeral procession under lockdown angers unionists. Irish Sea trade barrier undermines assurances from Boris Johnson.
By
Jonathan Pearlman.
Botched Brexit deal reignites Northern Ireland tensions
Youths set fire to the gates of the peace wall at the Springfield Road/Lanark Way interface in Belfast, Northern Ireland, last week.
Credit: Charles McQuillan / Getty Images
New Troubles
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Northern Ireland: In 1983, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) masterminded an escape from Maze Prison, a maximum security jail in which British authorities detained members of paramilitary groups during the Troubles, the 30-year conflict over the fate of Northern Ireland that finally ended with a peace accord in 1998.
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Lanark Way on 7 April ,West Belfast. Photograph: Peter Morrison/AP
Northern Ireland has endured more than a week of nightly riots on its streets. Violent protests by Unionist Protestants have brought back the images of sectarian violence of petrol bombs, bricks and other missiles. For the first time in six years, a water cannon has been deployed on the streets of Belfast, as 88 police officers have been injured; fortunately, there have been no deaths.