A Guide to the Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA)
A Profile of the Irish Paramilitary Terrorist Organisation
Jan 11, 2009
The Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA) was formed after breaking off from the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) in 1997. IRA Quartermaster General Michael McKevitt who was also part of the PIRA executive, denounced the leaders of the group and also the groups participation in the Northern Ireland Peace Process.
Founding of the RIRA
On October 26 1997, McKevitt and his wife along with several others resigned from the group and met in November 1997 to found the RIRA. The new organisation attracted PIRA members who were also disgruntled by the PIRAs co-operation with the peace process.
The main objective of the RIRA was, and still is to make a united Ireland by forcing the British to withdraw using physical force. The group rejects the Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement) which involved the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons.
The RIRA's Early Bombing Campaign
The RIRA's first action was an attempted car bombing in Banbridge, County Down on the 7 January 1998. The bombing was unsuccessful after security forces discovered and disabled the 300lb car bomb.
On 9 May 1998, the group formally announced that it existed in a telephone call to media in Belfast, taking responsibility for a mortar attack on a police station in Belleek.
The organisation carried on making attacks in a number of locations, including another, this time successful attack in Banbridge which injured 35 people and caused around £3.5 million worth of damage.
Despite these early successes, the RIRA lacked a strong base, and was full of informants which led to a number of arrests and weapons seizures in the first half of 1998.
The RIRA and the Omagh Bombing
On 15 August 1998, RIRA bombers left a car filled with 500lb of explosive in the centre of Omagh, County Tyrone. The actual target was the courthouse, but there was no parking available close enough, so the bombers left the car about 400 metres away.
The police received a number of warnings and made a perimeter around the court house, but in doing so, they pushed the crowds of people that had gathered closer to the car bomb.
The bomb exploded killing 29 people and injured over 200 others, making it the single most harmful strike of the Troubles. The bombing caused outcry and the British government made new anti-terro laws to try to destroy the organisation. The RIRA also came under pressure from the PIRA to disband, and Michael McKevitt was forced from his home after being named in connection with the Omagh bomb. The RIRA called a ceasefire on 8 September 1998.
Re-organisation of the RIRA
Straight after the ceasefire, the RIRA regrouped and elected new leadership and began to plan future action. Following further pressure by the government in Dublin, McKevitt said that the disbanding of his organisation would leave his members defenceless against the PIRA.
RIRA members travelled to Croatia and smuggled weapons back to Ireland.
Call-to Arms
On 20 January 2000 the RIRA issued a call-to-arms and launched a new campaign in February with the attempted bombing of an army barracks in Ballykelly. The bombers were found whilst they were setting the bombs up.
A renewed campaign in Northern Ireland included the attempted bombing of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Mandleson.
In July 2001, Michael McKevitt and a number of other RIRA members were arrested and put the group into disarray, and in August 2003, McKevitt was sentenced the 20 years imprisonment having been convicted of directing terrorism.
The latest attack thought to be committed by the RIRA was a rocket attack on 19th December 2008 against a police patrol, although the rocket missed the patrol and was discovered later on waste ground.
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