Also known as: IRA
The Provisional Irish Republican Army or IRA, is a paramilitary/terrorist organization that was active in the later 20th century.
The successor to the original Irish Republican Army that fought against Britain during the Irish War of Independence (also known as Anglo-Irish War) from 1919 to 1921, before the organization split into two during the Irish Civil War (1922-1923) over disagreements over accepting a treaty with Britain that gave Ireland independence in exchange for Northern Ireland staying under UK control due to the latter's majority population composed of Protestants and/or Loyalists, who remained loyal to Britain, compared to the rest of Ireland which was composed of Catholic and/or Irish Nationalists. The anti-treaty IRA forces lost and later disbanded to the Irish National Army, a faction of the IRA that support the treaty and the new Irish government, which later became the Irish Defense Force.
The newer Provisional Irish Republican Army began in 1969 due to "The Troubles", which began as a growing Civil Rights movement by the Catholic minority in Northern Ireland against the Protestant majority government, only for Protestants mobs and a corrupt police force violently surpress them. Despite the British Army attempts to bring order and peace, violence grew worse which led the IRA a campaign of bombings and assanations in order to achieve their goal of forcing the British government out of Northern Ireland and rejoin the Republic of Ireland.
The organization has a mixed reception where they are either portrayed as freedom fighters especially among sympathetic Irish Americans or terrorists by both the British and Irish governments. Despite the IRA claims they are fighting on behalf of the Catholics and Nationalists of Northern Ireland against the British Army, and Protestant and Loyalist paramilitary groups like the Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association, the group was infamous for killing fellow Irish in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic over allegations of working with their enemies and infighting within the IRA and other Irish Paramilitary groups.
The IRA eventually disarmed and disband in 2005 following the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, local support for the IRA waning due to their violent actions and financial support from Irish Americans stopping due to the 2001 September 11 attacks. Nevertheless, some smaller, splinter IRA groups still exist and are involved with criminal organizations.