The Republican Forces

The IRA

The Irish Republican Army is a term going back to at least the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), where it was the official name of the military forces fighting in favor of an independent Ireland. However, during the Civil War that immediately followed, the army of the new Irish Free State was retitled the National Army, but the faction opposing it and the treaty that ended the War of Independence, continued to be called the IRA. Though defeated, the IRA remained an underground group on the island until the outbreak of the troubles in 1969. In December of 1969, after a convention, the IRA split in two, the Provisional IRA, and the Official IRA, due to differences in ideology.

The Provisional, Official, and other IRAs.

The Provisionals, or more colloquially, the Provos, were the biggest player on the republican side of the Troubles. The Official IRA was well known for being Marxist, while the Provos were merely left wing. Another important difference was that the Provisionals were an Abstentionist political party, meaning they ran, but never took any seats they won in government, leaving them empty. They would eventually end this policy though, which created another splinter group, the Continuity IRA, in 1986. Then, finally, in 1997, opposing the ongoing peace process that would result in the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, yet another group broke off calling themselves the Real IRA.
Furthermore, all of these groups often purported themselves to be the only true legitimate descendant of the original, or old, IRA, and rejected the legitimacy of others.

As for the Provisionals specifically, they were once again, the most active Republican Paramilitary in the conflict, and were also the most deadly force in the conflict over all, with an estimated 1,700 deaths by its hands. About 1,000 of these were Security Forces, And about 100 were other Republicans, and then 500-600 were civilians. The PIRA, as well as the Official IRA generally tried to act non-sectarianly, as in, they did not specifically target protestants, as their goal was instead to force out the British Army, collapse the Northern Irish government, and bring about a united Ireland. However, they did initially get involved to protect Catholic (Nationalist/Republican) communities. In the end, their actions were in effect sectarian, due to how much Republicanism and Catholicism, and Protestantism and Unionism, were tied together for many in Northern Ireland, and the fact that the RUC was made up so predominantly of Protestants.
To finance themselves they did undertake criminal activity in the ROI and the North, such as robbery, protection rackets, smuggling, counterfeiting, and fuel laundering, as well as supposedly running legitimate businesses as well. However, interestingly, the IRA was seriously against drug dealing and prostitution.

The Offical IRA did not contribute so much to the conflict, but were active in the 70’s. They variously fueded with other IRA factions, but more significantly, attacked the British Army and perpetrated the first political assassination in Ireland since 1927, when they killed UUP Senator John Barnhill. They were only responsible for about 57 murders.

INLA

The other major rebel/terrorist group on the Republican side that didn’t call itself the IRA, was the Irish National Liberation Army, who formed in December of 1974, as a split from the Provisionals and Official IRA over the ceasefire that was agreed to around that time, where they were founded as the military wing of their new political party, the IRSP (Irish Republican Socialist Party). The INLA would also see a schism of it’s own in 1986 with the formation of the IPLO (Irish People’s Liberation Organization), however, this group would come into direct conflict with the Provisionals for their conduct (such as drug dealing). This was a mistake, and in 1992, they were forced to surrender to the Provisionals and disbanded.
Over all the INLA were responsible for at least 120 killings.

 

The Unionist Forces

UDA & UFF

The Ulster Defense Association was a Unionist Paramilitary group, however starting in 1972, their violent actions were carried out under the title of the Ulster Freedom Fighters, so that the UDA itself would not be banned or implicated. As the UDA they would stage some marches, but mainly, they acted as a terrorist group targeting Catholic Civilians as retribution for IRA actions, and were responsible for at least 260 deaths. They also have minor ties to British Neo-Nazi groups that supplied them with weapons. Most infamous was their ‘Lower Shankill 2nd Battalion, Company C.’, which in the 90’s was lead by a neo-nazi and undertook a campaign of random murders of Catholics. Along with the UVF they were one of the primary Unionist terrorist groups during the troubles.

UVF

The Ulster Volunteer Force, named after an older group named the Ulster Volunteers from 1912, who opposed Home-Rule for Ireland. This UVF was founded in 1966 though. They targeted Catholic owned businesses and later Catholics at random, with no-warning pub and car bombings. They once bombed the water and electrical systems in Belfest, and the Dublin-Belfast Railway, and even bombed ROI news channel RTÉ. They also perpetrated the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, the deadliest bombing of the conflict. It also committed robberies and dealt drugs for funding. Along with their subsidiary groups (particularly the Red Hand Commando), they were probably the deadliest Unionist paramilitary of the conflict, responsible for at least 485 murders. Along with the UDA/UFF, it was one of the primary Unionist paramilitaries of the troubles.

The UVP was another short lived paramilitary closely associated with the UVF, that also participated in the Water and Electrical system bombings, and the RTÉ bombing.

There was also the LVF formed as a schism group in 1996 over a unit of the UVF that broke ceasefire during the Dumcree Conflict and rioting that year.

UR/URM

The Ulster Resistance (Movement), was the militant arm of the DUP, the Democratic Unionist Party (not to be confused with the Ulster Unionist Party, or UUP), which was founded in 1971. The UR was created in 1986 in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of the previous year. They merely collaborated with and provided information to the UDA.

The Orange Men

Or more properly, the Loyal Orange Institution or Orange Order, is a Protestant Fraternal order that has been long active in Northern Irish Politics. The name refers all the way back to William of Orange, the Protestant king from the Netherlands who was brought into to Rule England in replacement of the Catholic James II, after which Protestants rose to dominate Ireland for many years (the Protestant Ascendancy). The Order is very unionists and sectarian, and is accused of being supremist and bigoted towards Catholics. They were not a paramilitary group, but did cause commotion and even rioted during the troubles, and have connections to Paramilitary Groups. Particularly, they have long insisted on a yearly traditional march, the supposed traditional route of which goes though historically very Catholic parts of Belfast. Eventually the government banned then from these streets during the troubles and blocked them off, leading to violence between the Security Forces and Unionists.

 

The Security Forces

RUC

The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the police force of Northern Ireland until 2001 when it was replaced by the PSIN (Police Service of Northern Ireland). It was overwhelmingly protestant and generally played a sectarian role during the Troubles, but worked closely with the British Army.

British Military

The British Army would be sent to Northern Ireland not long after the troubles began to bolster policing power and fight terrorist actions. It would end up taking for 705 casualties, the highest taken by a faction after civilian casualties. Other branches of the British Military were also minorly involved, with the Air Force taking 4, and the Navy 2 casualties, but the real force there was the Army. Though it did clash with Loyalist Forces as well, and hypothetically should have been a neutral agent, the British Army garnered much controversy for acting more in the interest of the Protestants, against Catholics, and even with Loyalist/Unionist groups. In particular, the 1st Paratroop Battalion, became exceedingly infamous, carrying out 3 shootings on unarmed civilians, including Bloody Sunday (though this was counter to orders, even then however, the unit faced little back lash and fault was not admitted until years after). The symbol of the British Paratroopers has since became a Sectarian symbol in Unionist Displays.
There was also the UDR, or Ulster Defense Regiment, raised from Northern Irishmen who volunteered, but was never intended to be used in cities or for riot control. It has it’s own long and complicated history, despite only existing between 1970 and 1992.

 

Civilian Organizations

NICRA & DHAC

The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association & Derry Housing Action Committee where Catholic Civil rights organizations founded before the conflict, that were partially inspired by other civil rights movements around that time to peacefully fight for the equal treatment of Catholics in Northern Ireland, who were looked down upon and passed over by the Protestant dominated government. It was their protests being met with violence by the RUC that kicked off the paramilitary and terrorist violence of the rest of the conflict.