CIRA

We intend to continue to progress our war effort regardless of how British rule in the six occupied counties is remodeled. This progression shall continue until such times as there is a British declaration of intent to withdraw. " CIRA Statement Februaury 2000 CIRA training video synonyms: Irish Continuity Army Council (ICAC); Continuity Army Council (CAC) The Continuity Irish Republican Army (Óglaigh na hÉireann) was reorganised as a result of the Provisionals abandonment of the abstentionist policy from Leinster House at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in 1986. Ruairi Ó Bradaigh, Daithi Ó Conaill and others walked out of that Ard Fheis and reconvened as Republican Sinn Féin. Provisional Sinn Féin had decided to sit in Leinster House if elected, whereas Republican Sinn Féin remained true to basic Republican principle. It was not as a result of the signing of the Belfast Agreement (variously known as the "Good Friday" Agreement or Stormont Agreement) although it does not support the current process, and the Army carries on the military campaign against British rule in Ireland. Furthermore the Continuity IRA has nothing to do with the so-called "Real" IRA, as it was in existence many years before it. The IRA has not called a ceasefire nor has it decommissioned any of its weapons. Tommy Crossan, CIRA POW in Magilligan Prison,  is leading the campaign for the reinstatement of political status removed by the signing of the Stormont Agreement. Comdt-Gen Tom Maguire, IRA - the last surviving member of the 2nd (All-Ireland) Dail Eireann released a statement recognising the Continuity Executive and the Continuity Army Council as the lawful Executive and Army Council respectively of the Irish Republican Army, and therefore possessing the governmental authority delegated by the faithful deputies of Dail Eireann in 1938. The CIRA are believed to be the only Republican group in Ireland never to have killed or seriously injured civilians. The Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) (which also styles itself the Continuity Army Council and "'Oglaigh na hEireann'''"--Gaelic for 'Volunteers of Ireland', and a title also claimed by both the legal Defence Forces of the Republic of Ireland and the Provisional IRA) is an Irish republican paramilitary group that split from the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1986 in a dispute over the attendance of the elected representatives of Sinn Fein (the political party affiliated to the Provisional IRA) at D ireann (the lower house of parliament of the Republic of Ireland). At the 1986 Sinn Fein Ard Fheis (annual party conference) it was decided to discontinue the party's long held policy of abstention from the D il but this decision was rejected by a minority of members who walked out of the conference to form a new political party--Republican Sinn Fein--and a new paramilitary group: the CIRA. The dispute within Sinn Fein was also seen as one between the Northern Ireland leadership of the party under Gerry Adams, who remained within 'Provisional' Sinn Fein, and the party's southern leadership under Ruairi O Bradaigh, who was among the defectors. Contrary to commmon belief, the formation of the CIRA did not arise from the signing of the 1998 Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement and predated that of the 'Real' IRA. The group opposes the Agreement nonetheless and, as of 2004, unlike the Provisional IRA, the CIRA had not announced a cease fire or agreed to participate in weapons decommissioning. The CIRA claim to be the true inheritors of an Irish republican tradition that includes the 'Old' Irish Republican Army that fought the 1919-1921 War of Independence, and claims to have attained legitimacy as such in being recognised by Tom Maguire, the last surviving member of the Second D il, as the modern incarnation of the old IRA, in what CIRA supporters perceive to be a kind of 'apostolic' succession. These claims are not widely accepted among republicans however. Activities As of 2004, CIRA activities had included numerous bombings, assassinations and kidnappings, as well as extortion and robbery. Targets of the CIRA have included British military and Northern Ireland security targets, as well as loyalist paramilitary groups. It has also conducted bomb attacks on predominantly Protestant towns in Northern Ireland. The CIRA is not believed to have an established presence or capability of launching attacks on the island of Great Britain. Strength As of 2004, the US government believed the CIRA to consist of fewer than 50 fully active members. External Aid The US government suspected the CIRA of receiving funds and arms from supporters in the United States. It is also believed that, in cooperation with the 'Real' IRA, the CIRA may have acquired arms and materiel from the Balkans.