Óglaigh na hÉireann Bank on it

national | worker & community struggles and protests | news report Thursday December 23, 2004 12:21 by McMean

"The British continue to claim sovereignty over part of our country and while that is the case armed struggle will always be justified." —RIRA Televised Interview, February 2003

The Real IRA (RIRA), also known as Óglaigh na hÉireann, is opposed to the GFA and Stormont. They believe that Ireland should be ruled by the Irish; and that, as Bobby Sands said, “The only way to halt the oppressor is through an armed struggle.” They adhere to the principles of true republicanism as put forth by James Connolly.
They broke away from the Provisional IRA (PIRA) in late 1997 when it was clear that the PIRA would go along with the so-called peace 'deal' and subsequently call a ceasefire.

Omagh
The RIRA are thought to be one of the groups responsible for big bank job

The RIRA are thought to be one of the groups responsible for the Omagh bomb (detonated at 3.10pm) that killed 29 people on 15 Aug 1998, and are the only entity to admit to their involvement thus far

Another republican group, which did not come forward, is also thought to have had a role in the operation; and the Royal Ulster Constabulary is suspected of collusion.

Although three warnings were issued and the location was given, video footage of the incident shows the RUC moving people into rather than away from the danger, thus killing 29 people and injuring hundreds.

BA/RUC response time to the warning call also seems to have been deliberately delayed.

After Omagh, the RIRA announced a ceasefire, and became inactive for a brief period of time.

It is believed that the RIRA is now growing rapidly because of the disillusion by the people with the mainstream RA leadership, and as more and more realise that the GFA itself was a sham designed primarily to secure Brit stronghold on the government and cement the loyalist veto option.

Alleged Locations of Strength


The RIRA's main support base is believed to be north Louth and So Armagh. It is also believed that, in addition to their highly successful units in England, there are active, trained units in Belfast, Donegal, Newry and Monaghan.
Two Real IRA cells in the Castlewellan area of south Down are suspected of carrying out a number of mortar attacks on a police station in Downpatrick and at Ardglass. According to the Belfast Telegraph, the Down unit is "one of the most active units in the Northern Ireland."

Other cells are believed to have been established in Cork, Limerick, Wexford, Kildare and Dublin, and Glasgow, Scotland.

England

A sustained tenet of dedication, as well as an ongoing cohesiveness, seems to come most from England — where the RIRA was thought to be responsible the for the bombing of MI5 Headquarters.

The RIRA are thought to have planted and detonated at least 12 bombs in the greater London area.

Their single biggest strike was in London on 3 March 2000, when they bombed the BBC Television centre.

This resulted in massive publicity for the group as the explosion was captured by a BBC cameraman and broadcast on TV stations internationally.

Security sources now say that the RIRA has three to four units based permanently in London. The units are thought to be well trained, and operating independently of each other to minimise the impact of a police intelligence breakthrough on the identity of some of their members. The England cells have also resisted infestations by moles, including attempts by the FBI/MI5 double agent, David Rupert, and the recently exposed Special Branch tout, Nick Gillespie.

It is also thought that the RIRA Volunteers have the support of a small logistical group, which is providing the bombers with accommodation in 'safe houses', vehicles for hits and at least one lock-up garage for preparing and storing explosive devices.

Weapons

Much of the RIRA's weapons are believed to have come from major shipments of arms to the PIRA from Libya and the United States during the late ‘80s and early 90s, including a substantial amount of Semtex.

Semtex is extremely stable and thus difficult to explode accidentally. It has an elastic-like consistency.

It is odorless for the most part (it does take on some low-level Nitrogen fumes when dormant) and is therefore difficult to detect by trained dogs and sensors.

Moreover, small moulded shapes of Semtex have the capability of passing undetected through the x-ray luggage screening machines installed at airports.

There are presently about 30 similar plastic explosives manufactured worldwide under different patents and names.

The RIRA has also perfected "barrack buster" devices and a variety of shoulder-launched projectiles based on the Russian Sagar missile. RPG 22 rockets were used in an attack on the headquarters of the British intelligence service, MI6, at Vauxhall Bridge in September 2000.

The Mark 15 Barrack Buster mortar, which contains ammonia nitrate, is believed to have been developed by an expert along Ireland's South Armagh-Louth border. It is comprised of six gas cylinder tubes, each packed with 20kg of explosives, which are welded to the trailer of a flatbed lorry before being fired over a perimeter wall using a remote control mechanism.

Moreover, the units are thought to have ample supplies of explosives smuggled from the Balkans, including military-type bombs that were manufactured in former Eastern Bloc countries. These 'lunchbox' bombs were used at Hammersmith Bridge in June 2000 and near Ealing rail station in July 2000, and at the post office depot attacks at Hendon in 2001.

Hits

In June 1998 a RIRA unit managed to detonate a massive car bomb in Newtownhamilton, Armagh, without being intercepted, causing huge damage. In July of that same year, it carried out a mortar bomb attack on an RUC station in the centre of Newry and on August 1, a huge R IRA bomb exploded in Banbridge, Co Down, injuring 33 people and causing £2m worth of damage.

In addition to the Taxi packed with high explosives that explode outside BBC Television centre in Shepherd's Bush, London and the ROG-22 rocket attack on MI6 headquarters in London, the RIRA is thought to be responsible for a bomb attack on Mahon Hotel, Irvinestown, Co Fermanagh, and two bombings that caused significant traffic disruptions, i.e., a. bomb attack on Hammersmith Bridge, London, and a bomb attack on a railway line near Ealing Broadway station, west London.

They are also thought to be responsible for a number of small explosions in the North of Ireland.

Casualties

Casualties include Rónán MacLochlainn, killed by Gardai after a robbery attempt, the actor Robbie Doolin and Joe O'Connor who is thought to have been killed by the PIRA. And Kevin Murray, who was denied medical care in Portlaoise Prison, and died of neglect.

Alleged Key Members

One key member of the RIRA is reported to be a Cork man who s regarded by Gardái as the prime suspect for the murder of IRA informer, John Corcoran in Cork in 1985.

One time member, Mickey McKevitt, brother-in-law of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, was thought to be the RIRA chief of staff prior to incarceration. He is the first person in the Irish Republic to be charged with "directing terrorism" under the legislation created in 1998. Double-agent (MI5 and FBI) Dave Rupert, will testify against McKevitt.

Seamus McGrane, was recently released on health grounds. McGrane was jailed after being caught during a Garda raid on a Real IRA training camp in Stamullen, Co Meath.

According to Ed Moloney's book, A Secret History of the IRA, McGrane sat on the Provisional IRA Army Executive until the Real IRA split in October 1997.

Colm Murphy, the only man convicted in connection with the Omagh bomb, was jailed for 12 years. He was convicted by a jury-less court despite the fact that Electro Static Document Analysis (ESDA) proved that “confessions” Murphy allegedly made to Irish police during numerous interviews were found to have been forged by detectived.

Pascal Burke, was captured during an attempted armed robbery at Ashford, Co Wicklow, in May 1998 where a RIRA activist, Rónán MacLochlainn, was shot dead by Gardai. The security forces had prior knowledge that an armed unit planned to hold up a Securicor van.

In Britain, three Co Louth men who attempted to procure arms for the Real IRA were jailed for 30 years last May, one of the longest sentences ever handed down by a British court for paramilitary-type offences. Michael McDonald, Fintan O'Farrell and Declan Rafferty were trapped in an elaborate sting operation by MI5 agents posing as Iraqi arms dealers.

Twins, Kenneth and Alan Patterson, were jailed for explosives offences earlier this year.

Portlaoise jail

In October 2002, RIRA prisoners inside Portlaoise jail issued a statement calling for the for the Army Council to stand down. However, under the IRA constitution the decision to call a ceasefire is at the sole discretion of the Army Council, and upon incarceration the chief of staff passed to another on the outside.

He is a reputed smuggler and the brother of a prominent republican who is convicted of a paramilitary offence. This man, along with a former Provisional IRA commander from south Armagh and another ex-Provo from the border area, holds one of three of the most senior positions in the Real IRA.

In words hauntingly familiar with 'Provo-ease', the statement said, "armed struggle should only be carried out when there is a reasonable prospect of success. When it becomes apparent that the continuation of armed operations is futile, it is the moral responsibility of the republican leadership to call a halt to such a campaign."

It also made claims that the outside leaders are lining their pockets. However, in a meeting prior to the prisoners' announcement, the current RIRA leader, in a strongly worded address, said the war would continue and there would be no talk of a ceasefire. Three weeks later, at a follow-up meeting in Dundalk, activists from the main faction demanded that the leadership North and South stand down, and a recently released prisoner read out a communique from the prisoners in Portlaoise saying that the existing Real IRA spokesperson no longer represented them. According to a report in the Irish Independent, "It was an extremely acrimonious meeting which ended in a verbal spat between the wife of a leader of the main faction and the wife of Liam Campbell, the well-known republican who was jailed for five years for IRA membership."

Members on the outside, for the most part, have rallied around around Liam Campbell, a 40-year-old farmer from Upper Faughart, Dundalk, said by police on both sides of the border to be the Real IRA's main strategist, and have vowed to continue the struggle. An article printed in Beir Bua exemplified this decision. Prisoner's still committed to the struggle, and thus still considered POWs, are listed on the POW prisoner list of this website, as are INLA and CIRA prisoners.

Despite the set-backs, the RIRA has become a force 'to be reckoned with'. As one Republican activist recently said, "Republicans have faced many situations in the past and have overcome them as various states have under estimated the will of 'The Risen People'. England, America and all Imperialist countries, know that the higher you build the barrier, the taller we become."