Irish Republican Army

This topic contains articles relating to the original IRA from the time of the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921). It also covers later paramilitary organisations that split to form contemporary groups, such as the Provisional IRA, Real IRA, and Continuity IRA, which were active during the Troubles in Northern Ireland and beyond.

‘This day is a long time in coming’: Memorial to garda and soldier killed during rescue of Don Tidey

Pte Patrick Kelly and Garda recruit Gary Sheehan were shot dead by a Provisional IRA gang 41 years ago

No evidence of police collusion in investigation into 1978 La Mon House Hotel bombing, ombudsman says

Judge at trial said he could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that statements not ‘adduced by torture’

‘I would do it again in a heartbeat’: former RUC officer consigned to a wheelchair by the IRA on serving in the Troubles

Former police officers defend the force they served, but feel increasingly forgotten

Daughters of IRA commander Joe McCann abused by relative in home they fled to after father’s murder

Áine McCann says: ‘We would have been safer on the streets of Belfast where children were getting shot dead every other day’

Monaghan grave exhumed in search for Disappeared victim Joe Lynskey

Former Belfast monk and IRA member abducted, murdered and secretly buried by paramilitaries in 1972

There’s an air of autocracy about some of Sinn Féin’s recent pronouncements

Sinn Féin manifesto's bizarre plans for an investigation into RTÉ’s coverage of the conflict in Gaza are part of a worrying pattern

Ray D’Arcy offers an intriguing glimpse into a dirty industry

Radio: When the RTÉ host talks to Pat and Aisling Ryan, it’s an intriguing glimpse into an unseen and unglamorous yet vital industry

‘Unspeakable’ Birmingham pub bombings remembered 50 years on

Explosions, widely blamed on the IRA, killed 21 people in the city in November 1974

Say Nothing: Bingeable yet sober-minded eulogy for the tragedy of the Troubles

Television review: Adaptation of Patrick Radden Keefe book retraces abduction and murder of Jean McConville and experiences of IRA bomber Dolours Price

John Bruton’s former adviser says history of the peace process needs to be rewritten

Shane Kenny says the then taoiseach never received the credit due for his role leading up to the Belfast Agreement

‘We live in a messy world’: Harold Good became internationally known as a witness to IRA decommissioning

Former Methodist Church president Harold Good, whose house played a prominent role in in ending The Troubles, opens up about the challenges of peacemakers

Sinn Féin’s leaders are not really leaders. They’re more like glove puppets for unseen controllers

Recent controversies are not the reason for Sinn Féin’s decline, they’re symptoms of its underlying reality

Search for remains of murdered British soldier Robert Nairac stood down

Lead investigator urges anyone with information that could help locate burial site to ignore ‘myths’ and come forward

Telling the story of an IRA hunger-striker: ‘What’s on stage is the reality: death, brutality, viciousness’

Staging the Martin Hurson Story has caused disquiet in parts of the North. Its aim is not to glorify, says its writer

Gerry Adams defamation case against BBC to be heard by jury next spring

The former Sinn Féin leader alleges he was defamed in a 2016 programme and article

Ireland’s most infamous unsolved murder: a massacre intended to strike fear into the hearts of Catholics

In a new book Edward Burke identifies the man he believes to have been responsible for the brutal killing of a Belfast Catholic family in 1922, a massacre whose repercussions continue to be felt

I was wary of the Kneecap film, but the tiocfaidh-ár-lá sex scene clinched it for me

From the chaos of the Troubles, the movie constructs a story of hope and tenderness, proving there’s more to life than land

These were our killing fields: one parish disfigured by decades of death, destruction and collusion

It is hard to believe this place once hosted vibrant industry and deadly sectarian violence

IRA campaign was not about civil rights. It was about driving people such as me ‘into the sea’

Neither republicans nor loyalists defended their communities, despite their claims. It was those in Northern Ireland who kept community ties alive while others tried to destroy them who ultimately won the argument

Voices of the dead speak again, telling unheard stories of the IRA ceasefire 30 years on

New writing and never-previously broadcast interviews bring alive the negotiations and nervousness before a critical moment in the Belfast peace process

Who was Robert Nairac and what happened to him?

'If remains are discovered, it will answer one of the questions that have swirled around the life and death of this 29-year-old soldier'

Thirty years after the ceasefire, former IRA members believe the battle of history is being won

Three republicans who served time during the Troubles have no regrets about the long IRA campaign of violence

The long shadow of a gunman: Weapon used to kill Kevin O’Higgins may still be out there

The gun used to assassinate the Free State minister for justice in 1927 was still in use in the 1970s during the Troubles

There’s too much death: Prospect of an ‘official’ British history of the Troubles is hurtful to families like mine

Injustice of the Legal Act has been compounded by the knowledge that nine historians will participate in this project, apparently oblivious to the trauma of families

‘It was 24 hours a day of hatred’: whiskey distillery on Crumlin Road Gaol site stirs memories of the Troubles

The former prison, which housed 2,000 republicans and loyalists at the height of the Troubles, is now home to stills that can make 610,000 litres of whiskey

Tragedy of Civil War shows importance of political compromise - McDowell

Compromise should never be a dirty word in any true democrat's lexicon, says former tánaiste as he unveils plaque to War of Independence hero, Sean O'Donoghue

‘He chose a different route’: Centenarian Troubles survivor Barney O’Dowd laid to rest

Man who lost two sons and a brother in loyalist attack achieved own justice ‘by outliving the forces that had sought to destroy him and his family’

Britain should not fear ‘an honest approach’ to past sins, says historian

Mistakes in dealing with terrorism in Northern Ireland are being repeated elsewhere, argues Prof Richard English in a new book

Denis Bradley: ‘Partition doesn’t work, never has worked, never will work’

The former priest who played a key role in the peace process reflects on the backchannel that enabled dialogue between the IRA and the UK government

Republicans who do not respect unionists or recognise State are standing in way of united Ireland

Commemorative and funeral marches by non-State actors wearing uniforms are polarising, ridiculous and ultimately unrepublican

This Town review: Ignore the toe-curling Irish stuff, Steven Knight’s new series is worth sticking with

Television: Peaky Blinders creator always had strange ideas about Irish people, and the Irish characters in This Town are no different

The Secret Army review: Extraordinary story of lost IRA documentary told in gripping style

Television: US academic gained unprecedented access to leadership of Provisionals in 1972

Grizzled ‘republican family’ veterans turn out for IRA bomber Rose Dugdale’s funeral

Mourners who forgot to wear Easter lilies handed replacements as service plays host to who’s who of republican circles

Sinn Féin is this island’s best resourced political party, the beneficiary of a legacy of barbarism

The effects of the Provisional movement’s fundraising campaign are still visible in Irish politics, north and south

Obituary: Rose Dugdale, the London debutante who became an art thief and IRA bomber

An unrepentant idealogue, she said the happiest day of her life was when she took part in an attack on Strabane RUC barracks

Pearse McAuley: Garda killer and notorious IRA terrorist who was jailed for stabbing his then wife

McAuley was imprisoned for IRA crimes and domestic violence, though was previously celebrated by Sinn Féin members and TDs

‘I am a child of the Troubles. Ordinary boring government is much better’

Former IRA prisoner turned artist says of post-conflict Northern Irish society: ‘We’re not normal, but we’re heading towards normality’

Sinn Féin’s Troubles apology may be flawed, but silence from London has been deafening

‘Some were terrible, some were essentially excuses,’ says Prof Kieran McEvoy of the Apologies, Abuses and Dealing with the Past project

50 years on: Murder of Senator Billy Fox is remembered by his then girlfriend

Marjorie Coulson was waiting for her boyfriend to turn up when he was murdered by the Provisional IRA near her home

Chris Mullin and the Birmingham Six 50 years on: ‘My goal was simply to rescue the innocent’

The British journalist, author and politician on his campaign to help prove the innocence of six Irishmen wrongly imprisoned for bombings – and tracking down the real bombers

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