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The origins of the Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) lie in the mid-1980s split in the ranks of the Irish Republican movement. This movement strives to unite Northern Ireland and Ireland in a socialist republic, and has historically pursed its aims primarily through force of arms, but latterly by more political means.
The group that would form the nucleus of the CIRA reportedly carried out the bombing of the war memorial in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, on Remembrance Day (the U.K. equivalent of Veterans’ Day) 1987. This attack, initially denied but later admitted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), killed 11 (another victim died in 2000 never having regained consciousness from a coma), injuring over 60 others, as they took part in a memorial service. It was considered a tactical blunder by some in the PIRA leadership, and provides a sanguine reminder of the capabilities and intent of those who are believed to have helped found the CIRA.
The 1980s schism in the Irish Republican movement came about when the political party Sinn Fein – PIRA’s political wing – declared at their 1986 party conference that they were to discontinue their traditional policy of abstaining from the Dáil Éireann (the lower house of Parliament of the Republic of Ireland). A minority at the conference refused and walked away in protest, creating a rival group, Republican Sinn Fein (RSF), which would uphold what they viewed as more traditional measures for achieving political change. In 1994, the Irish Republican movement split further after PIRA declared a cease-fire. It was at this time that the Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) became notably more active. Effectively the armed wing of RSF, the CIRA is termed, in the evolving parlance of the “Troubles,” a “dissident” Republican group to differentiate them from those (such as PIRA) who are nominally on ceasefire.
The CIRA is also known as the Continuity Army Council (CAC) and the Irish Continuity Army Council (ICAC). A number of the Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA – another dissident Republican group) and PIRA members have joined the organization. Some observers feel that the CIRA was created as a surrogate identity so that members of PIRA can continue to carry out terrorist attacks while ostensibly observing a cease fire.
It is reported that there are fewer than 50 active members in the CIRA. The group has refused to observe the cease-fire which was first agreed to by PIRA in 1994 (and subsequently broken before being re-agreed to in 1997) and have refused to abide by the Good Friday agreement (also known as the Belfast agreement), which attempted to peacefully resolve the Northern Ireland conflict.
The CIRA and RIRA have reportedly been working together in order to achieve their common goal of dismantling the Good Friday Agreement. The Police Service of Northern Ireland believes that the groups are exchanging personnel, equipment and expertise. The police feel that the groups are coming together not to consolidate into one organization but rather in order to increase their effectiveness.
The CIRA has been active in Northern Ireland, where they have carried out bombings, assassinations, kidnapping, hijackings, extortion, intimidation and robberies. The group is believed to have obtained rifles, machine guns, pistols and Semtex (commercial explosive) from the RIRA. It is also believed that the RIRA and CIRA have established an arms pipeline through which weapons and explosives are being sent from the Balkans. Authorities believe that the CIRA is obtaining Semtex intended for earlier PIRA operations. The CIRA is also thought to be receiving funds from members of the Real IRA as well as sympathizers in the United States.
The CIRA is suspected of being responsible for several bombings including the bombing of a Hotel in Enniskillen in 1996, placing a bomb on a hijacked bus outside a west Belfast police station in 2001, and placing bombs in Banbridge, Markethill, Moria and Portadown. They are also suspected of having some involvement in bombing the BBC Television center in London and the city’s Hammersmith Bridge in 2000. They have also been known for hoax bomb threats and for “punishment beatings.”
The police have had some success in reducing the CIRA’s strength, especially in June of 2003 when they arrested a senior member of the group with five RIRA men in a vehicle, recovering two powerful bombs. The police had success again later the same year when they raided a suspected CIRA training camp in the Republic of Ireland, arresting 10 members and confiscating weapons, ammunitions and other paramilitary equipment. CIRA is seeking to advance their engineering capabilities to build more effective bombs and has been able to access weapons with greater ease. The U.S. State Department put CIRA on its Foreign Terrorist Organization list in July of 2004. While the group has had some recruitment problems, it is still increasing its membership, and obtaining more weapons and explosives, leaving authorities to fear that there will be more terrorist attacks from it in the future.
Sources:
“Continuity Irish Republican Army,” Federation of American Scientists – Intelligence Resource Program.
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/cira.htm
“Continuity Irish Republican Army,” Ireland’s Own – History.
http://irelandsown.net/CIRA.html
“Continuity Irish Republican Army,” Nation Master Encyclopedia
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Continuity-
Irish-Republican-Army
“Paramilitaries – Continuity IRA,” BBC History.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/troubles/
factfiles/conira.shtml
“Real IRA arms purchasing in Croatia indicates a change of tactics” Jane’s Terrorism and Security Monitor, Aug. 23, 2000.
http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/
news/jtsm/jtsm000823_1_n.shtml
“The Agreement” – Northern Ireland Office
http://www.nio.gov.uk/index/key-issues/the-agreement.htm
“The Belfast/Good Friday Agreements,” BBC NI
http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/learning/history/stateapart/agreement/
“The Third Report of the Independent Monitoring Commission,” The House of Commons, Nov. 4, 2004.
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:TbyMG3CYZdMJ:www.nio.gov.uk/
3rd_report_of_the_imc.pdf+THE+CIRA+and+RIRA
+working+together&hl=en
Rosie Cowen, “Garda arrest 10 terror suspects,” The Guardian, Aug. 4, 2003.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,2763,1011916,00.html
Roger Davies, “Semtex recovered in N Ireland,” Jane’s Intelligence Review, March 5, 2001.
http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jir/jir010305_1_n.shtml
Michealin Dhochartaigh, “CIRA Lost £ 50,000 in Arms Deal,” Ireland’s Own News Updates, December 2000.
http://irelandsown.net/News14.htm
Richard Evans, “Police warn of increasing co-operation between dissident Republicans,” Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center, April 3, 2003.
http://www.janes.com/security/law_enforcement/news/jtic/jtic030404_1_n.shtml
U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism April 2005.
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/45394.htm
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