The Irish National Liberation Army is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group formed on 8 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seeks to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a socialist republic encompassing all of Ireland. With membership estimated at 80–100 at their peak, it is the paramilitary wing of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP).
Seamus Costello was an Irish politician. He was a leader of Official Sinn Féin and the Official Irish Republican Army and latterly of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA).
The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA was an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a "workers' republic" encompassing all of Ireland. It emerged in December 1969, shortly after the beginning of the Troubles, when the Irish Republican Army (IRA) split into two factions. The other was the Provisional IRA. Each continued to call itself simply "the IRA" and rejected the other's legitimacy.
The Workers' Party is an Irish republican, Marxist–Leninist communist party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Several people are reported to have served as Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army in the organisations bearing that name. Due to the clandestine nature of these organisations, this list is not definitive.
Maurice Twomey was an Irish republican and the longest serving chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
The Border campaign was a guerrilla warfare campaign carried out by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) against targets in Northern Ireland, with the aim of overthrowing British rule there and creating a united Ireland. It was also referred to as the "resistance campaign" by some Irish republican activists. The campaign was a military failure, but for some of its members was justified as it kept the IRA engaged for another generation.
Saor Éire was a far-left political organisation in the Irish Free State established in September 1931 by communist-leaning members of the Irish Republican Army, with the backing of the IRA leadership. Notable among its founders was Peadar O'Donnell, former editor of An Phoblacht and a leading far-left figure in the IRA. Saor Éire described itself as "an organisation of workers and working farmers".
James Anthony Lane is an Irish republican and socialist from Cork. He was a central figure in left-wing politics in Cork city during the 1960s to late 1980s and involved in many campaigns. He was also influential in republican circles nationally and a well known advocate of socialist republicanism of a Marxist-Leninist hue.
Cathal Goulding was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Official IRA.
Sinn Féin is the name of an Irish political party founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith. It became a focus for various forms of Irish nationalism, especially Irish republicanism. After the Easter Rising in 1916, it grew in membership, with a reorganisation at its Ard Fheis in 1917. It split in 1922 in response to the Anglo-Irish Treaty which led to the Irish Civil War and saw the origins of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the two parties which have since dominated Irish politics. Another split in the remaining Sinn Féin organisation in the early years of the Troubles in 1970 led to the Sinn Féin of today, which is a republican, left-wing nationalist and secular party.
Peadar O'Donnell was one of the foremost radicals of 20th-century Ireland. O'Donnell became prominent as an Irish republican, socialist politician and writer.
Saor Uladh was a short-lived Irish republican paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland in the 1950s.
Seán McGuinness, born John McGuinness, was an Irish republican who fought in the Irish War of Independence as well as the Irish Civil War. After the wars, he was elected to Dáil Éireann but did not take his seat and was later disqualified for allegedly assaulting a member of the Garda Siochana. Following a period of exile in the United States, McGuinness returned to Ireland where he resumed his membership of the IRA and continued to push for radical action as well as becoming a founder of the Saor Éire party. Over the years, McGuinness repeatedly clashed with the leadership of the IRA over the direction they should take in the post-Civil War era, with McGuinness being amongst those in the IRA who believed the organisation needed to be tied to social issues in order to receive public support.
Liam Seán Kelly was an Irish republican, who was elected both to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland (1953–1958) and as a member of the upper house of the Irish legislature Seanad Éireann (1954–1957). He was also a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and after his expulsion from that organisation in 1951, founded the Republican splinter group Saor Uladh and its political wing Fianna Uladh.
Joe McCann was an Irish republican paramilitary. A member of the Irish Republican Army and later the Official Irish Republican Army, he was active in politics from the early 1960s and participated in the early years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. He was shot dead during a confrontation with RUC Special Branch members and British paratroopers in 1972.
Saor Éire, also known as the Saor Éire Action Group, was an armed Irish republican organisation composed of Trotskyists and ex-IRA members. It took its name from a similar organisation of the 1930s.
Seán McCool was a prominent Irish Republican and a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army. Imprisoned on numerous occasions, both North and South of the border, he embarked on a number of hunger strikes in order to secure release. During the 1930s, McCool was one of the few socialists to remain in the IRA after the Republican Congress's decision to split. He stood as a candidate for the Irish Republican party Clann na Poblachta before leaving them as a result of their decision to go into government with Fine Gael.
Saoradh is a far-left political party and pressure group formed by dissident Irish republicans in 2016. It is active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Police Service of Northern Ireland and independent commentators describe the party as being close with the New IRA, although Saoradh themselves deny this.
Michael ("Mick") Price was an Irish republican, revolutionary and political activist born in Phibsboro, Dublin. Although he served in the British Army during World War I, Price became involved with the Irish Volunteers c. 1918 and their successors the Irish Republican Army thereafter. Price was imprisoned multiple times for his activities, including his participation in IRA operations during the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War. He held significant roles in the Anti-Treaty IRA during the Civil War, such as quartermaster and OC of the 1st Eastern Division.
