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182———Irish Republican Army

called the Irish Republican Socialist Party. At present, Holland, Jack, and Henry McDonald. INLA: Deadly
most observers believe it to have no more than a few Divisions. Dublin: Torc, 1994.
dozen members. (It has sometimes carried out attacks McKittrick, David. Making Sense of the Troubles. Belfast:
using the cover names People’s Liberation Army, Blackstaff, 2000.
People’s Republican Army, and the Catholic Reaction
Force.) At the height of its power in the mid- to late
1970s, the INLA was estimated to have more than IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY
100 members
The Officials were displeased with the INLA’s
defection from its ranks; in early 1975, a feud erupted The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a terrorist
between the two groups. The first death attributed organization originally formed in 1919 and revived
to the INLA is that of an Official IRA leader, Paul in the late 1960s that aims to reunite the Republic
Crawford, in April 1975. In the years following, the of Ireland with Northern Ireland, a province of the
INLA would be involved in several more vicious United Kingdom.
feuds, both with other paramilitary forces and within
the group itself. ORIGINS
The INLA was responsible for several significant
terrorist attacks, including the 1979 car bombing in When the IRA was originally formed, all of Ireland
parking lot of the House of Commons that killed Airey was a British colony. The majority of Ireland’s popu-
Neave, a prominent Unionist member of Parliament, lation was Roman Catholic, Celtic, and nationalist—
and the 1982 bombing at the Droppin’ Well disco, that is, desirous of independence. In the northeast of
which killed 17 people, 11 of them British soldiers. The the country, however, the majority of the population
INLA was also very involved in the 1981 prison hunger was Protestant, of British or Scots descent, and intent
strikes led by IRA member Bobby Sands; of the 10 men on remaining part of Great Britain.
who died, three were INLA members. In December Under the leadership of Michael Collins, the
1997, three INLA prisoners obtained a gun and assassi- IRA successfully instigated the Anglo-Irish War
nated Billy “King Rat” Wright, leader of the Loyalist (1919–1921).
Volunteer Force, in the courtyard of the Maze prison. The peace treaty that followed called for Ireland’s
Wright’s death led to riots and a string of revenge partition: 26 Irish counties would become the largely
killings both inside prison walls and beyond them. independent Irish Free State, while the remaining
On August 22, 1998, following the Omagh bomb- 6 northeastern counties (Amtrim, Down, Fermagh,
ing by splinter group the Real IRA, the INLA declared Armagh, Derry, and Tyrone) would become the pro-
a cease-fire. (Government security forces allege that vince of Northern Ireland (also called Ulster) and be
INLA and Real IRA provided mutual aid; they believe governed by a special Parliament in Belfast.
that the INLA provided the vehicles that the Real IRA A great number of IRA members were dissatisfied
used in the Omagh bombing.) The INLA is thought with the treaty—they wanted all 32 counties to be
to be responsible for between 125 and 150 deaths. included in the Irish Republic. A civil war between
Although the INLA has maintained its cease-fire since the pro- and antitreaty forces was fought during
1998, it has not disarmed and claims it retains the 1922–1923. The protreaty forces were victorious, but
right to engage in armed campaigns. the IRA remained viable, although membership and
activities gradually declined. The contemporary IRA
regards itself as a continuation of the organization
See also IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY; REAL IRISH REPUBLICAN
ARMY begun in 1919, with the same goal—a 32-county Irish
Republic.
Further Reading

Dixon, Paul. Northern Ireland: The Politics of War and REVIVAL OF THE IRA
Peace. New York: Palgrave, 2001.
Holland, Jack. Hope Against History: The Course of Catholics were widely discriminated against in
Conflict in Northern Ireland. New York: Henry Holt, Protestant-dominated Northern Ireland, most notably
1999. in the arrangement of voting districts, distribution of