The Real Irish Republican Army,or Real IRA (RIRA),was a dissident Irish republican paramilitary group that aimed to bring about a United Ireland. It was formed in 1997 following a split in the Provisional IRA by dissident members,who rejected the IRA's ceasefire that year. Like the Provisional IRA before it,the Real IRA saw itself as the only rightful successor to the original Irish Republican Army and styled itself as simply "the Irish Republican Army" in English or Óglaigh na hÉireann in Irish. It was an illegal organisation in the Republic of Ireland and designated a proscribed terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom and the United States.
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.
John Hume was an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A founder and leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party,Hume served in the Northern Ireland Parliament;the Northern Ireland Assembly including,in 1974,its first power-sharing executive;the European Parliament and the United Kingdom Parliament. Seeking an accommodation between Irish nationalism and Ulster unionism,and soliciting American support,he was both critical of British government policy in Northern Ireland and opposed to the republican embrace of "armed struggle". In their 1998 citation,the Norwegian Nobel Committee recognised Hume as an architect of the Good Friday Agreement. For himself,Hume wished to be remembered as having been,in his earlier years,a pioneer of the credit union movement.
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLAs) and two members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
Gerard Fitt,Baron Fitt was a politician from Northern Ireland. He was a founder and the first leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP),a social democratic and Irish nationalist party.
Foyle is a constituency in Northern Ireland covering Derry,represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Its current Member of Parliament (MP) has been Colum Eastwood of the SDLP since 2019.
Derry City Council was the local government authority for the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. It merged with Strabane District Council in April 2015 under local government reorganisation to become Derry and Strabane District Council.
Alban Maginness is a Northern Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 1998 to 2016.
Fearghal McKinney is an Irish politician and former journalist. A member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP),he sat in the Northern Ireland Assembly as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for South Belfast from 2013 until his defeat at the 2016 Assembly election. He was deputy leader of the SDLP from 2015 to 2016.
Mary Dolores Kelly is an Irish nationalist former politician who served as deputy leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 2011 to 2015. She was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Upper Bann from 2003 until 2016,and again from 2017 until 2022. She was succeeded by Eóin Tennyson in 2022.
This is a timeline of actions by the Irish republican paramilitary groups referred to as the Real Irish Republican Army and New Irish Republican Army. The Real IRA was formed in 1997 by disaffected members of the Provisional IRA. Since July 2012,when Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) and other small republican groups merged with it,the group has been called the New IRA;although it continues to call itself simply "the Irish Republican Army".
Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) was an Irish republican vigilante group active mainly in Derry and the surrounding area,including parts of counties Londonderry and Tyrone in Northern Ireland,and parts of County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. It targeted those who it claimed were drug dealers. The group's methods included shooting the alleged dealers in the arms and legs;pipe bomb or arson attacks on the property of alleged dealers;and warning,threatening or banishing the alleged dealers.
Óglaigh na hÉireann is a small dissident Irish republican paramilitary group that took part in the dissident Irish Republican campaign. The organisation started carrying out attacks around 2009 and was formed after a split within the Real IRA,led by Seamus McGrane.
Colum Eastwood is an Irish nationalist politician who served as Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 2015 to 2024. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Foyle since 2019,served in Northern Ireland Assembly from 2011 to 2019 and served on Derry City Council from 2005 to 2011.
The dissident Irish republican campaign began at the end of the Troubles,a 30-year political conflict in Northern Ireland. Since the Provisional Irish Republican Army called a ceasefire and ended its campaign in 1997,breakaway groups opposed to the ceasefire and to the peace agreements have continued a low-level armed campaign against the security forces in Northern Ireland. The main paramilitaries involved are the Real IRA,Continuity IRA and formerly Óglaigh na hÉireann. They have targeted the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the British Army in gun and bomb attacks as well as with mortars and rockets. They have also carried out bombings that are meant to cause disruption. However,their campaign has not been as intensive as the Provisional IRA's,and political support for groups such as the Real IRA is "tending towards zero".
Gary Donnelly is an Irish republican politician and an independent member of the Derry and Strabane District Council since 2014.
Gerard Diver is an Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle between January and March 2016.
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.
The 1973 Londonderry City Council election took place on 30 May 1973 to elect members of Londonderry City Council in Northern Ireland. This was on the same day as other Northern Irish local elections. The campaign was significant in that,following changes to the election process and districts,Irish nationalist parties were able to take control of the council for the first time.
The New Irish Republican Army,or New IRA,is an Irish republican paramilitary group. It is a continuation of the Real Irish Republican Army,which began to be called the 'New IRA' in July 2012 when Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) and other small republican militant groups merged with it. The group calls itself simply "the Irish Republican Army". The New IRA has launched many attacks against the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the British Army. It is the largest and most active of the "dissident republican" paramilitary groups waging a campaign against the British security forces in Northern Ireland.
