Emergence of Splinter I.R.A. Groups

By Luke Kelly

After the Good Friday Agreement, the vast majority of the Irish Republicans were devoted to the peace process, however small factions of dissident I.R.A. groups were still committed to using violence as a means to accomplish their goals. Since 1998, the violence perpetrated by paramilitary organizations in Northern Ireland has significantly decreased, however there have still been some instances of incursions that have been detrimental to the peace process. One example of this was the Massereene Barracks shooting in 2009, which killed two British soldiers. Upon investigation, it was determined that Marian Price purchased a pay as you go phone from a Tesco supermarket the day after the shooting and used it to call a media network and announce that the Real I.R.A. was responsible for the attack. It is unknown if Marian was one of the shooters at Massereene Barracks, however it is confirmed that she was still indulged in armed republican movements and that she played a role in organising the attack.  Although there was a “Free Marian Price” campaign, it did not reach the level of support that it had for her decades before when she was on hunger strike. The lack of substantial support amongst Irish republicans shows that the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland were now committed to the peace process. Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein quickly denounced the attacks and made it clear that there is no place for violence in Northern Irish society anymore. The fact that the Real I.R.A. would claim that even the Domino’s delivery men, who were wounded in the shooting, were legitimate targets for “collaborating with the British by serving them” (Keefe 310) just proves how disenfranchised with the original Republican movement the I.R.A. factions had become. By this point, splinter I.R.A. groups appeared more like gangs than political armies. They had no clear motive or message for the Massereene Barracks Shooting, and unsurprisingly there was no public support for armed violence to remove British presence in Ireland anymore. 

Despite the fact that Republican, Loyalist, and British authorities all condemned the attack, it showed that some aspects of the Troubles still remained and that some people simply have not moved on. Although the I.R.A. has been relatively inactive since the Good Friday Agreement, attacks by splinter groups can still add to the societal divide and unravel progress made in the peace process. The presence of the Real I.R.A. and other splinter groups highlights the shortcomings of the peace process and the resistance of some people to move on. The Good Friday Agreement was widely accepted on both sides, however violence perpetrated by dissident groups underline the fact that some people were not satisfied with the agreement and they will not stop fighting until they have achieved their goal. The Real I.R.A. make up such a small fraction of Northern Irish Republicans, however in a delicate post-peace process society, their actions can have lasting effects that still cause people to live in fear. Simply knowing that there are still radical militant groups present in Northern Ireland, is enough to add to the insecurity and societal divide that is still seen today. In recent years, violence perpetrated by paramilitary organizations have been infrequent, but it still has major impacts and it adds to the fear and distrust that people living in Northern Ireland still possess.

References:

“IRA Splinter Groups (U.K., Separatists).” Accessed December 17, 2020. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/ira-splinter-groups-uk-separatists. 

Metrowebukmetro. “IRA Splinter Groups ‘Only 300-Strong’.” Metro. Metro.co.uk, December 7, 2019. https://metro.co.uk/2009/03/15/ira-splinter-groups-only-300-strong-543863/.