View source for Continuity Irish Republican Army

{{Short description|Irish republican paramilitary group split from the Provisional IRA in 1986}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox war faction
|name=Continuity Irish Republican Army
|war={{indented plainlist|
*[[The Troubles]] (1986–1998)
*[[Dissident Irish republican campaign]]}}
|image=Ciraderry.jpg
|caption=CIRA propaganda video
|allegiance = [[Irish Republic]]{{refn|group=n|Irish republicans do not recognise any of the Irish states since 1922, but declare their allegiance to the extinct Republic of 1919–21.<ref name=allegiance>Richard English, ''Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA'' ({{ISBN|0-330-49388-4}}), p. 106.</ref>}}
|active=1986–present<ref>{{cite web|first=Connla |last=Young |url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/2018/01/26/news/republican-groups-have-no-plans-o-nh-ceasefire-style-ceasefire-1242024/ |title=Republican groups have no plans for ÓNH-style ceasefire |work=The Irish News |date= 26 January 2018|access-date=2018-09-22}}</ref>
|ideology={{indented plainlist|
*[[Physical force Irish republicanism]]
*[[Irish nationalism]]
*[[Irish republican legitimism]]
*[[Dissident republican]]ism
*[[Éire Nua]]}}
|clans={{indented plainlist|
*[[Republican Sinn Féin]] (political wing)
*[[Fianna Éireann]] (youth wing)
*[[Cumann na mBan]] (women's wing)}}
|leader1_title=Leadership
|leader1_name=Continuity Army Council
|area={{indented plainlist|
*[[Northern Ireland]] (mainly)
*[[Republic of Ireland]]}}
|size=About 50 (as of {{nowrap|July 2012)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2011/195553.htm|title=Chapter 6. Foreign Terrorist Organizations|website=U.S. Department of State}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.start.umd.edu/tops/|title=Terrorist Organization Profiles |publisher=START – National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism|website=start.umd.edu}}</ref>}}
|predecessor=[[Provisional Irish Republican Army]]
|allies=[[New Irish Republican Army|NIRA]]<ref>{{cite web|title=New IRA and Continuity IRA discuss joint attacks|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/new-ira-and-continuity-ira-discuss-joint-attacks-wpzlfwl62|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=15 August 2021|date=10 August 2021}}</ref>
|opponents={{indented plainlist|
*[[Government of the United Kingdom|British Government]] 
*[[British Army]] 
*[[Police Service of Northern Ireland]]
*[[Garda Síochána|An Garda Síochána]]
*[[Irish Army]]}}
|designated_as_terror_group_by={{plainlist|
*[[United Kingdom]]
*[[United States]]
*[[New Zealand]]}}
|native_name=''Óglaigh na hÉireann''
|split=
|native_name_lang=gd
}}
{{Irish republicanism|Militant groups}}
The '''Continuity Irish Republican Army''' ('''Continuity IRA''' or '''CIRA'''), styling itself as the '''Irish Republican Army''' ({{Langx|ga|[[Óglaigh na hÉireann]]}}<ref>{{Cite book | last = O'Leary | first = Brendan | author-link = Brendan O'Leary | title = A Treatise on Northern Ireland, Volume I: Colonialism | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | year = 2019 | page = 64 | isbn = 978-0199243341}}</ref>), is an [[Irish republicanism|Irish republican]] paramilitary group that aims to bring about a [[united Ireland]]. It claims to be a direct continuation of the original [[Irish Republican Army (1917–22)|Irish Republican Army]] and the national army of the [[Irish Republic]] that was [[Proclamation of the Irish Republic|proclaimed in 1916]]. It emerged from a split in the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|Provisional IRA]] in 1986 but did not become active until the Provisional IRA [[ceasefire]] of 1994. It is an illegal organisation in the Republic of Ireland and is designated a [[List of designated terrorist organizations|terrorist organisation]] in the United Kingdom,<ref>{{cite act |title=Terrorism Act 2000 |title-link=Terrorism Act 2000 |date=2000-07-20 |reporter=UK Public General Acts |volume=2000 c. 11 |chapter=Schedule 2: Proscribed Organisations |chapter-url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/schedule/2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121085241/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/schedule/2 |archive-date=2013-01-21 |url-status=live}}</ref> New Zealand<ref name="NZ-r1373-terrorlist">{{cite web |url=http://www.police.govt.nz/advice/personal-community/counterterrorism/designated-entities/lists-associated-with-resolution-1373 |title=Lists associated with Resolution 1373 |publisher=New Zealand Police |date=20 July 2014 |access-date=16 August 2014|quote=7/13/2004: Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA)}}</ref> and the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=Foreign Terrorist Organizations |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm |access-date=9 February 2017 |publisher=[[United States Department of State]]}}</ref> It has links with the political party [[Republican Sinn Féin]] (RSF).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lowe |first=Josh |date=2016-02-08 |title=Continuity IRA: Four things you need to know about the group claiming responsibility for the Dublin weigh-in murder |url=https://www.newsweek.com/dublin-shooting-continuity-ira-424166 |access-date=2018-10-12 |work=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref>

Since 1994, the CIRA has [[Timeline of Continuity Irish Republican Army actions|waged a campaign]] in Northern Ireland against the [[British Army]] and the [[Police Service of Northern Ireland]] (PSNI), formerly the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]]. This is part of a [[Dissident Irish republican campaign|wider campaign]] against the British security forces by [[dissident republican]] paramilitaries. It has targeted the security forces in gun attacks and bombings, as well as with grenades, [[Barrack buster|mortars]] and [[Rocket-propelled grenade|rockets]]. The CIRA has also carried out bombings with the goal of causing economic harm and/or disruption, as well as many punishment attacks on alleged criminals.

To date, it has been responsible for the [[Murder of Stephen Carroll|death of one PSNI officer.]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Draft List of Deaths Related to the Conflict in 2009 |url=https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/violence/deaths2009draft.htm |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=cain.ulster.ac.uk}}</ref> The CIRA was smaller and less active than the now-defunct [[Real IRA]], and there have been a number of splits within the organisation since the mid-2000s.

==Origins==
The Continuity IRA has its origins in a split in the Provisional IRA. In September 1986, the Provisional IRA held a General Army Convention (GAC), the organisation's supreme decision-making body. It was the first GAC in 16 years. The meeting, which like all such meetings was secret, was convened to discuss among other resolutions, the articles of the Provisional IRA constitution which dealt with [[abstentionism]], specifically its opposition to the taking of seats in [[Dáil Éireann]] (the parliament of the [[Republic of Ireland]]).<ref name=":0" /> The GAC passed motions (by the necessary two-thirds majority) allowing members of the Provisional IRA to discuss and debate the taking of parliamentary seats, and the removal of the ban on members of the organisation from supporting any successful republican candidate who took their seat in Dáil Éireann.<ref>{{cite web| title = A Chronology of the Conflict – 1986 | url = http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch86.htm | publisher = [[CAIN]] | access-date = 17 May 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bowyer Bell |first=J. |title=IRA: Tactics & Targets |publisher=Poolbeg |year=1998 |isbn=978-1853712579 |edition=3rd |quote=Essentially since the spring of 1972, the crucial player in the armed struggle has been the Provisional IRA—now the IRA}}</ref>

The Provisional IRA convention delegates opposed to the change in the constitution claimed that the convention was [[gerrymander]]ed "by the creation of new IRA organisational structures for the convention, including the combinations of Sligo-Roscommon-Longford and Wicklow-Wexford-Waterford."<ref>Robert White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary, 2006, p. 309.</ref> The only IRA body that supported this viewpoint was the outgoing IRA Executive. Those members of the outgoing Executive who opposed the change comprised a [[quorum]]. They met, dismissed those in favour of the change, and set up a new Executive. They contacted [[Tom Maguire]], who was a commander in the old IRA and had supported the Provisionals against the [[Official IRA]] (see [[Irish republican legitimatism]]), and asked him for support. Maguire had also been contacted by supporters of [[Gerry Adams]], then president of [[Sinn Féin]], and a supporter of the change in the Provisional IRA constitution.

Maguire rejected Adams' supporters, supported the IRA Executive members opposed to the change, and named the new organisers the Continuity Army Council.<ref name=":1" /> In a 1986 statement, he rejected "the legitimacy of an Army Council styling itself the Council of the Irish Republican Army which lends support to any person or organisation styling itself as Sinn Féin and prepared to enter the partition parliament of Leinster House." In 1987, Maguire described the "Continuity Executive" as the "lawful Executive of the Irish Republican Army."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ó Brádaigh |first=Ruairí |title=Dílseacht: The Story of Comdt. General Tom Maguire and the Second (All-Ireland) Dáil |publisher=Irish Freedom Press |year=1997 |isbn=9780951856796 |pages=65–66}}</ref>

==Campaign==
{{Main|Chronology of Continuity Irish Republican Army actions}}

Initially, the Continuity IRA did not reveal its existence, either in the form of press statements or paramilitary activity. Although the [[Garda Síochána]] had suspicions that the organisation existed, they were unsure of its name, labelling it the "Irish National Republican Army".<ref>{{cite web|title=The Continuity IRA |author=David Kerr |url=http://www.ulsternation.org.uk/continuity_ira.htm |publisher=Ulster Nation |year=1997 |access-date=16 March 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070505211142/http://www.ulsternation.org.uk/continuity_ira.htm |archive-date= 5 May 2007}}</ref> On 21 January 1994, on the 75th anniversary of the First Dáil Éireann, a group of men in paramilitary dress offered a "final salute" to Tom Maguire by firing over his grave. A public statement headed "Irish Republican Publicity Bureau" signed "B Ó Ruairc, ''Rúnaí'' [Secretary]" identifying the firing party as "[[Volunteer (Irish republican)|Volunteers]] of Óglaigh na hÉireann-the Irish Republican Army", and two accompanying photos were published in ''[[Saoirse Irish Freedom]]''.<ref>[https://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/IrishNews/id/2732 "Final Salute to Comdt-General Tom Maguire"], Saoirse, Feabhra-February 1994, p. 2; see also, Robert White, Ruairi O Bradaigh, the Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary. 2006. Indiana University Press, pp. 323–24.</ref> Garda [[Special Detective Unit|Special Branch]] detectives raided the headquarters of Republican Sinn Féin at Arran Quay, Dublin, two days after the graveside volley, seizing files and questioning staff.<ref>"Files Seized in Raid", ''Irish Independent'', 25 January 1994.</ref> In February 1994 it was reported that in previous months Gardaí had found arms dumps along the [[Cooley Peninsula]] in County Louth that did not belong to the Provisional IRA, and forensics tests determined had been used for firing practice recently.<ref>IRA splinter group threat to ceasefire", ''Irish Independent'', 5 February 1994.</ref>

It was only after the Provisional IRA declared a ceasefire in 1994 that the Continuity IRA became active, announcing its intention to continue the campaign against British rule. The CIRA continues to oppose the [[Good Friday Agreement]] and, unlike the Provisional IRA (and the Real IRA in 1998), the CIRA has not announced a ceasefire or agreed to participate in weapons decommissioning—nor is there any evidence that it will. In the 18th [[Independent Monitoring Commission]]'s report, the RIRA, the CIRA and the [[Irish National Liberation Army]] (INLA) were deemed a potential future threat. The CIRA was labelled "active, dangerous and committed and... capable of a greater level of violent and other crime". Like the RIRA and RIRA splinter group [[Real IRA/ONH|Óglaigh na hÉireann]], it too sought funds for expansion. It is also known to have worked with the INLA.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

The CIRA has been involved in a number of bombing and shooting incidents. Targets of the CIRA have included the [[British Armed Forces|British military]], the Northern Ireland police (both the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] and its successor the [[Police Service of Northern Ireland]]). Since the [[Good Friday Agreement]] in 1998 the CIRA, along with other paramilitaries opposing the ceasefire, have been involved with a countless number of punishment shootings and beatings. By 2005 the CIRA was believed to be an established presence on the island of Great Britain with the capability of launching attacks.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bright |first=Martin |last2=McDonald |first2=Henry |date=2005-03-20 |title=Irish terror groups 'to hit London' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/mar/20/northernireland.northernireland |access-date=2024-09-29 |work=The Observer |publisher=The Guardian}}</ref> A bomb defused in Dublin in December 2005 was believed to have been the work of the CIRA.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-12-09 |title=Continuity IRA link suspected in M50 alert |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/2005/1209/70638-m50/ |access-date=2024-09-29 |work=RTÉ News}}</ref> In February 2006, the [[Independent Monitoring Commission]] (IMC) blamed the CIRA for planting four bombs in Northern Ireland during the final quarter of 2005, as well as several [[bomb threat|hoax bomb warnings]].<ref name="IMC8">{{Cite report |last=Independent Monitoring Commission |title=Eighth report of the Independent Monitoring Commission |pages=13–14 |date=1 February 2006 |publisher=The Stationery Office |url=http://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/documents/uploads/8th%20IMC%20Report.pdf|access-date=6 May 2007 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070615142944/https://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/documents/uploads/8th%20IMC%20Report.pdf |archive-date=15 June 2007}}</ref> The IMC also blamed the CIRA for the killings of two former CIRA members in Belfast, who had stolen CIRA weapons and established a rival organisation.
<ref name="IMC17">{{Cite report |last=Independent Monitoring Commission |title=Seventeenth report of the Independent Monitoring Commission |pages=9–10 |date=7 November 2007 |publisher=The Stationery Office |url=http://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/documents/uploads/17th_IMC.pdf|access-date=10 February 2008 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227081924/http://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/documents/uploads/17th_IMC.pdf |archive-date=27 February 2008 }}</ref>
The CIRA continued to be active in both planning and undertaking attacks on the PSNI. The IMC said they tried to lure police into ambushes, while they have also taken to [[stoning]] and using [[petrol bomb]]s. In addition, other assaults, robbery, [[tiger kidnapping]], [[extortion]], [[fuel laundering]] and [[smuggling]] were undertaken by the group. The CIRA also actively took part in recruiting and training members, including disgruntled former Provisional IRA members. As a result of this continued activity the IMC said the group remained "a very serious threat".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/documents/uploads/Twentieth%20Report.pdf |title=Twentieth Report of the Independent Monitoring Commission |publisher=[[The Stationery Office]] |date=10 November 2008 |access-date=28 December 2008 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218015532/http://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/documents/uploads/Twentieth%20Report.pdf |archive-date=18 December 2008}}</ref>

On 10 March 2009 the CIRA claimed responsibility for the fatal shooting of a PSNI officer in [[Craigavon (planned town)|Craigavon]], [[County Armagh]]—the first police fatality in Northern Ireland since 1998. The officer was fatally shot by a sniper as he and a colleague investigated "suspicious activity" at a house nearby when a window was smashed by youths causing the occupant to phone the police. The PSNI officers responded to the emergency call, giving a CIRA sniper the chance to shoot and kill officer Stephen Carroll.<ref>{{cite news| title = Continuity IRA shot dead officer  | url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7934426.stm | work = BBC News | date = 10 March 2009 | access-date = 10 March 2009 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2009-03-10 |title=Two men held over PSNI murder |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0310/craigavon.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311135830/http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0310/craigavon.html |archive-date=2009-03-11 |access-date=2024-09-29 |work=RTÉ News}}</ref> Carroll was killed two days after the Real IRA's [[2009 Massereene Barracks shooting]] at [[Massereene Barracks]] in Antrim. In a press interview with [[Republican Sinn Féin]] some days later, regarded by some to be the political wing of the Continuity IRA, Richard Walsh described the attacks as "acts of war".<ref>{{cite news | title = Northern Ireland killings were an act of war, says hardline republican group | author = Henry McDonald | author-link = Henry McDonald (writer) | url = https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/mar/26/northern-ireland-killings-terrorism | newspaper = [[The Guardian]] | date = 26 March 2009 | access-date = 22 April 2020}}</ref>

In 2013, the Continuity IRA's 'South Down Brigade' threatened a [[Irish Travellers|Traveller]] family in Newry and published a statement in the local newspaper.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} There were negotiations with community representatives and the CIRA announced the threat was lifted.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} It was believed the threat was issued after a Traveller feud which resulted in a pipe bomb attack in Bessbrook, near Newry.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McKenna |first=Micheal |date=2013-07-05 |title=MP demands end to ‘CIRA attacks’ on Travellers |url=https://armaghi.com/news/mp-demands-end-to-cira-attacks-on-travellers/6644 |access-date=2024-09-29 |work=Armagh I}}</ref> The Continuity IRA is believed to be strongest in the [[County Fermanagh]] – North [[County Armagh]] area (Craigavon, Armagh and Lurgan).{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} It is believed to be behind a number of attacks such as pipe bombings, rocket attacks, gun attacks, and the PSNI claimed it orchestrated riots a number of times to lure police officers into areas such as Kilwilkie in Lurgan and Drumbeg in Craigavon in order to attack them.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} It also claimed the group orchestrated a riot during a security alert in Lurgan. The alert turned out to be a hoax.<ref name="theguardian.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/continuity-ira|title=Continuity IRA|work=The Guardian|access-date=30 January 2015}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=December 2019}}

On Easter 2016, the Continuity IRA marched in paramilitary uniforms through North Lurgan, Co Armagh, without any hindrance from the PSNI who monitored the parade from a police helicopter.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McDonald |first=Henry |date=2016-05-05 |title=Fifteen men arrested in Northern Ireland after paramilitary funeral |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/05/fourteen-men-arrested-in-northern-ireland-after-paramilitary-funeral |access-date=2024-09-29 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>

In July and August 2019 the CIRA carried out attempted bomb attacks on the PSNI in Craigavon, County Armagh and Wattlebridge, County Fermanagh.<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 August 2019 |title=Fermanagh bomb attack 'carried out by Continuity IRA' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-49441699 |access-date=2024-09-29 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-07-29 |title=Continuity IRA behind bomb targeting police in Craigavon |url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2019/07/29/news/continuity-ira-behind-bomb-targeting-police-in-craigavon-1672325/ |access-date=2024-09-29 |work=The Irish News}}</ref>

On 5 February 2020, [[Brexit Day bomb plot|a bomb]] planted by the CIRA was found by the PSNI in a lorry in Lurgan. The CIRA believed the lorry was going to be put on a North Channel ferry to Scotland in January 2020.

==Claim to legitimacy==
{{Main|Irish republican legitimism}} Similar to the claim put forward by the Provisional IRA after its split from the [[Official IRA]] in 1969, the Continuity IRA claims to be the legitimate continuation of the original [[Irish Republican Army (1917–22)|Irish Republican Army]] or ''Óglaigh na hÉireann''.<ref>{{cite book | last = van Engeland | first = Anisseh | title = From Terrorism to Politics (Ethics and Global Politics) | publisher = [[Ashgate Publishing]] | year = 2008 | page = 55 | isbn = 978-0-7546-4990-8}}</ref> This argument is based on the view that the surviving anti-[[Anglo-Irish Treaty|Treaty]] members of the [[Second Dáil]] delegated their "authority" to the [[IRA Army Council]] in 1938. As further justification for this claim, [[Tom Maguire]], one of those anti-Treaty members of the Second Dáil, issued a statement in favour of the Continuity IRA, just as he had done in 1969 in favour of the Provisionals. [[J. Bowyer Bell]], in his ''The Irish Troubles'', describes Maguire's opinion in 1986: "abstentionism was a basic tenet of republicanism, a moral issue of principle. Abstentionism gave the movement legitimacy, the right to wage war, to speak for a Republic all but established in the hearts of the people".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bowyer Bell |first=J. |title=The Secret Army, The IRA |publisher=Poolbeg |year=1997 |isbn=978-1560009016 |edition=3rd |pages=575}}</ref> Maguire's stature was such that a delegation from Gerry Adams sought his support in 1986, but was rejected.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=White |first=Robert W. |title=Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2006 |isbn=9780253347084 |pages=310}}</ref>

==Relationship to other organisations==
These changes within the IRA were accompanied by changes on the political side and at the 1986 [[Sinn Féin]] Ard Fheis (party conference), which followed the IRA Convention, the party's policy of [[abstentionism]], which forbade Sinn Féin elected representatives from taking seats in the [[Oireachtas]], the parliament of the Republic, was dropped. On 2 November, the 628 delegates present cast their votes, the result being 429 to 161. The traditionalists, having lost at both conventions, walked out of the Mansion House, met that evening at the West County Hotel, and reformed as [[Republican Sinn Féin]] (RSF).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Bowyer Bell |first=J |title=The Secret Army: The IRA |publisher=Poolbeg |year=1997 |isbn=978-1560009016 |edition=3rd}}</ref>

According to a report in the ''Cork Examiner'', the Continuity IRA's first chief of staff was [[Dáithí Ó Conaill]],<ref name="agdooe">{{Cite news |date=2000-07-02 |title=CIRA bomb adds to growing crisis in the peace process |url=https://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2000/02/07/current/opinionpage_9.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070509104341/http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2000/02/07/current/opinionpage_9.htm |archive-date=2007-05-09 |access-date=2024-09-29 |work=Irish Examiner}}</ref> who also served as the first chairman of RSF from 1986 to 1987. The Continuity IRA and RSF perceive themselves as forming a "true" [[Republican Movement (Ireland)|Republican Movement]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wolfe Tone Commemoration 2005 at Bodenstown |url=https://www.rsf.ie/boden05.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118175433/http://www.rsf.ie/boden05.htm |archive-date=2007-11-18 |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=Republican Sinn Féin}}</ref>

==Structure and status==
The leadership of the Continuity IRA is believed to be based in the provinces of [[Munster]] and [[Ulster]]. It was alleged that its [[List of IRA Chiefs of Staff|chief of staff]] was a [[Limerick]] man and that a number of other key members were from that county, until their expulsion. [[Dáithí Ó Conaill]] was the first chief of staff until 1991.<ref name = "agdooe"/> In 2004 the United States (US) government believed the Continuity IRA consisted of fewer than fifty hardcore activists.<ref>{{cite web| title = Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) | url = http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/cira.htm | publisher = [[Federation of American Scientists]] | date = 13 July 2004 | access-date = 18 May 2007}}</ref> In 2005, [[Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration|Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform]] [[Michael McDowell (politician)|Michael McDowell]] told [[Dáil Éireann]] that the organisation had a maximum of 150 members.<ref>{{cite web|title=Parliamentary Debates (Official Report – Unrevised) |url=http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=DAL20050623.xml&Node=H10-1#H10-1 |publisher=Dáil Éireann |date=23 June 2005 |access-date=18 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217045724/http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=DAL20050623.xml&Node=H10-1 |archive-date=17 February 2009}}</ref>

The CIRA is an illegal organisation under UK (section 11(1) of the [[Terrorism Act 2000]]) and ROI law due to the use of 'IRA' in the group's name, in a situation analogous to that of the [[Real Irish Republican Army]] (RIRA).<ref>{{cite web|title=Statutory Rules and Orders, 1939, No. 162. Unlawful Organisation (Suppression) Order, 1939 |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZSI162Y1939.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20071025064239/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZSI162Y1939.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 October 2007 |publisher=Irish Statute Book Database |access-date=5 May 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Membership of Real IRA was a terrorism offence |author=Kate O'Hanlon |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20050525/ai_n14641324 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071104031948/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20050525/ai_n14641324 |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 November 2007 |work=[[The Independent]] |date=25 May 2005 |access-date=3 May 2007 }}</ref> Membership of the organisation is punishable by a sentence of up to ten years imprisonment under UK law.<ref>{{cite web| title = House of Commons Hansard Debates for 30 October 2002 (pt 8) | url = https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo021030/debtext/21030-08.htm | publisher = House of Commons | date = 30 October 2002 | access-date = 17 March 2007}}</ref> On 31 May 2001 Dermot Gannon became the first person to be convicted of membership of the CIRA solely on the word of a [[Garda Síochána]] chief superintendent. On 13 July 2004, the US government designated the CIRA as a '[[Foreign Terrorist Organization]]'.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/37191.htm |title=US Department of State, Office of Counterterrorism Fact sheet 2005 |access-date=23 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117015042/https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/37191.htm |archive-date=17 November 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This made it illegal for Americans to provide material support to the CIRA, requires US financial institutions to block the group's assets and denies alleged CIRA members visas into the US.<ref>{{cite news |title=CIRA added to US terror list |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/3891791.stm |work=BBC News |date=13 July 2004 |access-date=18 May 2007 |location=London}}</ref>

==External aid and arsenal==
The US government suspects the Continuity IRA of having received funds and arms from supporters in the United States. Security sources in Ireland have expressed the suspicion that, in co-operation with the RIRA, the Continuity IRA may have acquired arms and [[materiel]] from the [[Balkans]]. They also suspect that the Continuity IRA arsenal contains some weapons that were taken from Provisional IRA arms dumps,{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} including a few dozen rifles, machine guns, and pistols; a small amount of the explosive [[Semtex]]; and a few dozen detonators.<ref>{{cite news| title = Decommissioning – how big a task? | url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/386434.stm | work = BBC News | date = 5 July 1999 | access-date = 18 May 2007 | location=London}}</ref>

==Internal tension and splits==
[[File:Wall Slogans 21.jpg|thumb|Graffito in [[Dublin]] in support of the Continuity IRA (2004)]]
In 2005, several members of the CIRA, who were serving prison sentences in [[Portlaoise Prison]] for paramilitary activity, left the organisation. Some transferred to the INLA landing of the prison, but the majority of those who left are now independent and on E4 landing. The remaining CIRA prisoners have moved to D Wing. Supporters of the Continuity IRA leadership claim that this resulted from an internal disagreement, which although brought to a conclusion, was followed by some people leaving the organisation anyway. Supporters of the disaffected members established the [[Concerned Group for Republican Prisoners]]. Most of those who had left went back to the CIRA, or dissociated themselves from the CGRP, which is now defunct.

In February 2006, the [[Independent Monitoring Commission]] claimed in a report on paramilitary activity that two groups, styling themselves as "Óglaigh na hÉireann" and "Saoirse na hÉireann", had been formed after a split in the Continuity IRA either in early 2006 or late 2005.<ref name=imc8>{{cite web |url=http://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/documents/uploads/8th%20IMC%20Report.pdf |title=Eighth Report of the Independent Monitoring Commission  |access-date=2007-05-06 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070615142944/http://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/documents/uploads/8th%20IMC%20Report.pdf |archive-date=15 June 2007}}, 1 February 2006</ref> The Óglaigh na hÉireann group was responsible for a number of pipe bomb attacks on the PSNI, bomb hoaxes, and robberies, the IMC also claimed the organisation was responsible for the [[Murder of Andrew Burns|killing of Andrew Burns]] on 12 February 2008 and was seeking to recruit former members of the RIRA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/organ/oorgan.htm|title=CAIN: Abstracts of Organisations – 'O'|first=Dr Martin|last=Melaugh|website=cain.ulst.ac.uk|access-date=14 November 2017}}</ref> The Saoirse na hÉireann (SNH) group was composed of "disaffected and largely young republicans" and was responsible for a number of bomb hoaxes, two of which took place in September 2006. It was thought to have operated largely in republican areas of Belfast .<ref name=imc8/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/8th-IMC-report|title=Eighth Report of the Independent Monitoring Commission|first=The Department of Justice and|last=Equality|website=justice.ie|access-date=14 November 2017}}</ref> The groups had apparently ceased operations by early 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/organ/docs/frampton10icsr.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/organ/docs/frampton10icsr.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live|title=The Return of the Militants: Violent Dissident Republicanism|last=Frampton|first=Martyn|year=2010|publisher=International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR)|pages=2–3|access-date=8 February 2011}}</ref>

In 2007, the Continuity IRA was responsible for shooting dead two of its members who had left and attempted to create [[Irish Republican Liberation Army|their own organisation]]. Upon leaving the CIRA, they had allegedly taken a number of guns with them.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/Sunday_Tribune/arts2007/mar18_Republicans_appalled_murders__SBreen.php | title=Republican community appalled by gruesome murders | date=18 March 2007 | work=Sunday Tribune | access-date=16 July 2014 | author=Breen, Suzanne | location=Dublin | archive-date=25 July 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725155413/http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/Sunday_Tribune/arts2007/mar18_Republicans_appalled_murders__SBreen.php | url-status=dead }}</ref> The Continuity IRA is believed by Gardaí to have been involved in a number of gangland killings in Dublin and Limerick.

In July 2010, members of a "militant Northern-based faction within the CIRA" claimed to have overthrown the leadership of the organisation. They also claimed that an Army Convention representing "95 per cent of volunteers" had unanimously elected a new 12-member Army Executive, which in turn appointed a new seven-member Army Council. The moves came as a result of dissatisfaction with the southern-based leadership and the apparent winding-down of military operations. A senior source from RSF said: "We would see them [the purported new leadership] as just another splinter group that has broken away."<ref>{{cite news |last=Moriarty |first=Gerry |date=7 July 2010 |title=Militant faction claims it has taken over leadership of CIRA |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/militant-faction-claims-it-has-taken-over-leadership-of-cira-1.628385 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028201145/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2010/0728/1224275616749.html |archive-date=2010-10-28 |access-date=2024-09-29 |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref> This organisation is referred to as the Real CIRA.<ref>{{cite book | last = Horgan | first = John | title = Divided We Stand: The Strategy and Psychology of Ireland's Dissident Terrorists | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] USA | date = 2013 | pages = 26–27 | isbn = 978-0199772858}}</ref>

In June 2011 CIRA member Liam Kenny was murdered, allegedly by drug dealers, at his home in [[Clondalkin]], West Dublin.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cusack |first=Jim |date=19 June 2011 |title=Gardaí fear retaliation attack after dissident murder |url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/gardai-fear-retaliation-attack-after-dissident-murder-2800112.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118184249/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/gardai-fear-retaliation-attack-after-dissident-murder-26743798.html |archive-date=2018-11-18 |access-date=2024-09-29 |work=Irish Independent}}</ref> On 28 November 2011 an innocent man was mistakenly shot dead in retaliation for the murder of Liam Kenny. Limerick Real IRA volunteer Rose Lynch pleaded guilty to this murder at the [[Special Criminal Court]] and was sentenced to life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0410/380678-rose-lynch-court/|title=Rose Lynch jailed for life over 2011 murder|date=10 April 2013|publisher=Raidió Teilifís Éireann|access-date=30 January 2015}}</ref>

In July 2012 the CIRA announced it had a new leadership after expelling members who had been working against the organisation.<ref>{{cite news |date=26 July 2012 |title=Continuity IRA says it has new leadership in place |url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0726/continuity-ira-says-it-has-new-leadership-in-place.html |access-date=26 July 2012 |work=[[RTÉ News and Current Affairs]] |publisher=RTÉ}}</ref>

In April 2014 a former leading member of the Belfast Continuity IRA who had been expelled from the organisation, Tommy Crossan, was shot dead.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-27137733|title=Tommy Crossan: Paramilitary funeral for murdered dissident republican|work=BBC News|date=24 April 2014 |access-date=30 January 2015}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
The CIRA are depicted in [[RTÉ]]'s TV series crime drama ''[[Love/Hate (TV series)|Love/Hate]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2014-10-13 |title=****SPOILER ALERT**** Ghost of Fran's wife Linda wreaks havoc for Nidge in Love/Hate |url=https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/television/spoiler-alert-ghost-of-frans-wife-linda-wreaks-havoc-for-nidge-in-lovehate/30658912.html |access-date=2024-09-29 |work=Irish Independent}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=n}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{CIRA/RSF}}
{{PIRA}}
{{The Troubles|state=collapsed}}
{{IRAs}}

[[Category:Continuity Irish Republican Army| ]]
[[Category:1986 establishments in Ireland]]