Northern Ireland The Forgotten War
These posts are not to promote any paramilitary group it is merely showing incidents that the RGJ might have been caught up in during their tours.
The Continuity Irish Republican Army or Continuity IRA (CIRA) is an Irish republican paramilitary group that aims to bring about a united Ireland. It emerged from a split in the Provisional IRA in 1986 but did this group did not become active until the Provisional IRA ceasefire of 1994. It is an illegal organisation in the Republic of Ireland and is designated a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States. It has links with the political party Republican Sinn Féin (RSF).
Like the Provisional IRA before it, the CIRA sees itself as the direct continuation of the original Irish Republican Army and styles itself as simply “the Irish Republican Army” in English or Óglaigh na hÉireann (Volunteers of Ireland) in Irish. It sees itself as the national army of an Irish Republic covering the whole of Ireland. The security forces initially referred to it as the “Irish National Republican Army” (INRA).
Since its formation, the CIRA has waged a campaign in Northern Ireland against the British Army and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), formerly the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). This is part of a wider campaign against the British security forces by “dissident republican” paramilitaries. It has targeted the security forces in gun attacks and bombings, as well as with grenades, mortars and rockets. The CIRA has also carried out bombings with the goal of causing economic harm and/or disruption, as well as many punishment attacks on alleged criminals.
To date, it has been responsible for the death of one PSNI officer. However, the CIRA is not as big and has not been as active as the Real IRA and there have been a number of splits within the organisation since the mid-2000s.
1986 IRA General Army Convention
The Continuity IRA has its origins in a split in the Provisional IRA. In September 1986, the Provisional IRA held a meeting of its General Army Convention (GAC), the organisation’s supreme decision-making body. It was the first GAC in 16 years. The meeting, which like all such meetings was secret, was convened to discuss among other resolutions, the articles of the Provisional IRA constitution which dealt with abstentionism, specifically its opposition to the taking of seats in Dáil Éireann (the parliament of the Republic of Ireland). The GAC passed motions (by the necessary two-thirds majority) allowing members of the Provisional IRA to discuss and debate the taking of parliamentary seats, and the removal of the ban on members of the organisation from supporting any successful republican candidate who took their seat in Dáil Éireann.
The Provisional IRA convention delegates opposed to the change in the constitution claimed that the convention was gerrymandered “by the creation of new IRA organisational structures for the convention, including the combinations of Sligo-Roscommon-Longford and Wicklow-Wexford-Waterford.” The only IRA body that supported this viewpoint was the outgoing IRA Executive. Those members of the outgoing Executive who opposed the change comprised a quorum. They met, dismissed those in favour of the change, and set up a new Executive. They contacted Tom Maguire, who had supported the Provisionals against the Official IRA (see Irish republican legitimatism), and asked him for support. Maguire had also been contacted by supporters of Gerry Adams, then and now president of Sinn Féin, and a supporter of the change in the Provisional IRA constitution.
Maguire rejected Adams’ supporters, supported the IRA Executive members opposed to the change, and named the new organisers the Continuity Army Council. In a 1986 statement, he rejected “the legitimacy of an Army Council styling itself the Council of the Irish Republican Army which lends support to any person or organisation styling itself as Sinn Féin and prepared to enter the partition parliament of Leinster House.” In 1987, Maguire described the “Continuity Executive” as the “lawful Executive of the Irish Republican Army.”
Campaign
Although much smaller than the Real IRA, the Continuity IRA is regarded by British intelligence as “Dangerous and Capable of more violent acts”. (CN) The Continuity IRA has been behind a number of attacks, including the shooting dead of PSNI Constable Stephen Carroll, who was shot dead on the 9th of March 2009 as he responded to a 999 call in Craigavon. He was the first police officer to be killed since the signing of the Belfast Agreement. He was killed two days after the Real IRA killing of two British soldiers outside Massereene Barracks in Antrim. In a press interview with Republican Sinn Féin some days later, regarded by some to be the political wing of the Continuity IRA, Paddy Walsh claimed these were “acts of war”.
In 2013 the Continuity IRA’s ‘South Down Brigade’ threatened a Traveller family in Newry and it published a statement in the local newspaper. There was negotiations with community representatives and the CIRA announced the threat was lifted. It was believed the threat was issued after a Traveller feud which resulted in a pipe bomb attack in Bessbrook, near Newry. The Continuity IRA is believed to be mainly strong in the County Fermanagh – North County Armagh area (Craigavon, Armagh and Lurgan). It is believed to be behind a number of attacks such as pipe bombings, rocket attacks, gun attacks, and the PSNI claimed it orchestrated riots a number of times to lure police officers into areas such as Kilwilkie in Lurgan and Drumbeg in Craigavon in order to attack them. It also claimed the group orchestrated a riot during a security alert in Lurgan. The alert turned out to be a hoax.
Claim to legitimacy
Irish republican legitimatism
Thus, similar to the claim put forward by the Provisional IRA after its split from the Official IRA in 1969, the Continuity IRA claims to be the legitimate continuation of the original Irish Republican Army or Óglaigh na hÉireann. This argument is based on the view that the surviving anti-Treaty members of the Second Dáil delegated their “authority” to the IRA Army Council in 1938. As further justification for this claim, Tom Maguire, one of those anti-Treaty members of the Second Dáil, issued a statement in favour of the Continuity IRA, just as he had done in 1969 in favour of the Provisionals. J. Bowyer Bell, in his The Irish Troubles, describes Maguire’s opinion in 1986: “abstentionism was a basic tenet of republicanism, a moral issue of principle. Abstentionism gave the movement legitimacy, the right to wage war, to speak for a Republic all but established in the hearts of the people”. Maguire’s stature was such that a delegation from Gerry Adams sought his support in 1986, but this was rejected.
Relationship to other organisations
These changes within the IRA were accompanied by changes on the political side and at the 1986 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis (party conference), which followed the IRA Convention, the party’s policy of abstentionism, which forbade Sinn Féin elected representatives from taking seats in the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Republic, was dropped. On the 2nd of November, the 628 delegates present cast their votes, the result being 429 to 161. The traditionalists, having lost at both conventions, walked out of the Mansion House, met that evening at the West County Hotel, and reformed as Republican Sinn Féin (RSF).
According to a report in the Cork Examiner, the Continuity IRA’s first chief of staff was Dáithí Ó Conaill, who also served as the first chairman of RSF from 1986 to 1987. The Continuity IRA and RSF perceive themselves as forming a “true” Republican Movement.
Structure and status
The leadership of the Continuity IRA is believed to be based in the provinces of Munster and Ulster. It was alleged that its chief of staff was a Limerick man and that a number of other key members were from that county, until their expulsion. Dáithí Ó Conaill was the first chief of staff in 1991. In 2004 the United States (US) government believed the Continuity IRA consisted of fewer than fifty hardcore activists. In 2005, Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Michael McDowell told Dáil Éireann that the organisation had a maximum of 150 members.
The CIRA is an illegal organisation under UK (section 11(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000) and ROI law due to the use of ‘IRA’ in the group’s name, in a situation analogous to that of the Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA). Membership of the organisation is punishable by a sentence of up to ten years imprisonment under UK law. On the 3st1 May 2001 Dermot Gannon became first person to be convicted of membership of the CIRA solely on the word of a Garda chief superintendent. On the 13th of July 2004, the US government designated the CIRA as a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization’ (FTO). This made it illegal for Americans to provide material support to the CIRA, requires US financial institutions to block the group’s assets and denies alleged CIRA members visas into the US.
External aid and arsenal
The US government suspects the Continuity IRA of having received funds and arms from supporters in the United States. Security sources in Ireland have expressed the suspicion that, in co-operation with the RIRA, the Continuity IRA may have acquired arms and material from the Balkans. They also suspect that the Continuity IRA arsenal contains some weapons that were taken from Provisional IRA arms dumps, including a few dozen rifles, machine guns, and pistols; a small amount of the explosive Semtex; and a few dozen detonators.
Weaponry
Like the Real IRA, the Continuity IRA still retains on to some weapons some of its members stole from Provisional IRA dumps after they defected. However it was believed in 1999 and 2000 that members of the Continuity IRA and members of the Real IRA traveled a number of times to Croatia in the former Yugoslavia to purchase some arms with a contact they had established. It was widely believed that some of those arms including Yugoslavian Plastic Explosives such as TM-500, Yugoslavian M70AB1’s and M70AB2’s (Yugoslavian variants of the AK47 and AKM rifles), Czech Vz 26’s sub machine guns, RPG 18 rocket launchers and a quantity of ammunition managed to be smuggled safely to Ireland.
The Gardaí later discovered some of this equipment belong mainly to the Real IRA in bunkers and training camps in County Meath. Real IRA member Alan Ryan, aged 19, was arrested at an underground training camp in County Meath. Ryan would later rise to become a prominent member of the Real IRA in Dublin only to be killed in a violent feud with Dublin Criminals in 2012. In 2000 Croatian police stopped a truck carrying a consignment of arms believed to be destined for the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA. The footage featured in a BBC Spotlight Documentary in 2003 about Dissident Republicans. It is believed that the Continuity IRA still holds on to some of the arms that managed to get through.
Much of its weaponry is believed to be mostly of Provisional IRA origin such as the Romanian AKM rifles the Provisional IRA managed to receive from Libya. Many of these weapons can be frequently seen in Real IRA and Continuity IRA propaganda videos or photographs taken by journalists who managed to interview members of the Continuity IRA and are found usually when arms are uncovered by British or Irish security forces.
Activities
Chronology events of Continuity Irish Republican Army actions
Initially, the Continuity IRA did not reveal its existence, either in the form of press statements or paramilitary activity. Although the Garda Síochána had suspicions that the organisation existed, they were unsure of its name, labelling it the “Irish National Republican Army”. On the 21st of January 1994, on the 75th anniversary of the First Dáil Éireann, Continuity IRA volunteers offered a “final salute” to Tom Maguire by firing over his grave, and a public statement and a photo were published in Saoirse Irish Freedom.
It was only after the Provisional IRA declared a ceasefire in 1994 that the Continuity IRA became active, announcing its intention to continue the campaign against British rule. The CIRA continues to oppose the Good Friday Agreement and, unlike the Provisional IRA (and the Real IRA in 1998), the CIRA has not announced a ceasefire or agreed to participate in weapons decommissioning—nor is there any evidence that it will. In the 18th Independent Monitoring Commission’s report, the RIRA, the CIRA and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) were deemed a potential future threat. The CIRA was labelled “active, dangerous and committed and… capable of a greater level of violent and other crime”. Like the RIRA and Óglaigh na hÉireann, it too sought funds for expansion. It is also known to have worked with the INLA.
The CIRA has been involved in a number of bombing and shooting incidents. Targets of the CIRA have included the British military, the Northern Ireland police service (Royal Ulster Constabulary, Police Service of Northern Ireland) and Ulster loyalist paramilitaries. Since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 the CIRA along with other paramilitaries apposing the ceasefire, have been involved with a countless number of punishment shootings and beatings. By 2005 the CIRA was believed to be an established presence on the island of Great Britain with the capability of launching attacks. A bomb defused in Dublin in December 2005 was believed to have been the work of the CIRA. In the February of 2006, the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) blamed the CIRA for planting four bombs in Northern Ireland during the final quarter of 2005, as well as several hoax bomb warnings. The IMC also blamed the CIRA for the killings of two former CIRA members in Belfast, who had stolen CIRA weapons and established a rival organisation.
The CIRA continued to be active in both planning and undertaking attacks on the PSNI. The IMC said they tried to create troubles to lure police forth, while they have also taken to stoning and using petrol bombs. In addition, other assaults, robbery, tiger kidnapping, extortion, fuel laundering and smuggling were undertaken by the group. The CIRA also actively took part in recruiting and training members, including disgruntled former Provisional IRA members. As a result of this continued activity the IMC said the group remained “a very serious threat”.
On the 10th of March 2009 the CIRA claimed responsibility for the fatal shooting of a PSNI officer in Craigavon, County Armagh—the first police fatality in Northern Ireland since 1998. The officer was fatally shot by a sniper as he and a colleague investigated “suspicious activity” at a house nearby when a window was smashed by youths causing the occupant to phone the police. The PSNI officers responded to the emergency call, giving a CIRA sniper the chance to shoot and kill officer Stephen Carroll
Internal tension and splits
In 2005, several members of the CIRA, who were serving prison sentences in Portlaoise Prison for paramilitary activity, left the organisation. Some transferred to the INLA landing of the prison, but the majority of those who left are now independent and on E4 landing. The remaining CIRA prisoners have moved to D Wing. Supporters of the Continuity IRA leadership claim that this resulted from an internal disagreement, which although brought to a conclusion, was followed by some people leaving the organisation anyway. Supporters of the disaffected members established the Concerned Group for Republican Prisoners in their support. Most of those who had left went back to the CIRA, or dissociated themselves from the CGRP. The group is now defunct.
In the February of 2006, the Independent Monitoring Commission claimed in a report on paramilitary activity that two groups, styling themselves as “Óglaigh na hÉireann” and “Saoirse na hÉireann”, had been formed after a split in the Continuity IRA. The Óglaigh na hÉireann group was responsible for a number of pipe bomb attacks on the PSNI, bomb hoaxes, and robberies. The Saoirse na hÉireann group was responsible for a number of bomb hoaxes. The groups had apparently ceased operations by early 2009.
The Continuity IRA was responsible in 2007 for shooting dead of two of its members who left the organisation and attempted to create their own organisation. Upon leaving the CIRA, they had allegedly taken a number of guns with them. The Continuity IRA is believed by Gardaí to have been involved in a number of gangland killings in Dublin and Limerick. Recent internal feuds and splits have seen organisations such as the RCIRA (Real Continuity IRA) being formed in the Limerick area and organisations such as Óglaigh na hÉireann (which ceased operating around 2009, not be confused with another more active group, also called Óglaigh na hÉireann) and Saoirse na hÉireann, a group which also ceased around that time. A Republican Sinn Féin member even remarked that splits aren’t uncommon in the Continuity IRA as some individuals think they should be in a leading position of the group. (CN)
In the July of 2010, members of a “militant Northern-based faction within the CIRA” led by a well known member from south Derry claimed to have overthrown the leadership of the organisation. They also claimed that an Army Convention representing “95 per cent of volunteers” had unanimously elected a new 12-member Army Executive, which in turn appointed a new seven-member Army Council. The moves came as a result of dissatisfication with the southern-based leadership and the apparent winding-down of military operations. A senior source from Republican Sinn Féin said: “We would see them [the purported new leadership] as just another splinter group that has broken away.”
In the June of 2011, Liam Kenny, a member of this Limerick based breakaway Continuity IRA faction, was murdered, allegedly by drug dealers, at his home in Clondalkin, West Dublin. On the 28th of November 2011 an innocent man was mistakenly shot dead in retaliation for the murder of Liam Kenny. Limerick activist Rose Lynch (a member of the same breakaway Continuity IRA faction based in and lead from Limerick) pleaded guilty to this murder at the Special Criminal Court and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
In the July of 2012 the leadership of the CIRA announced it had a new leadership after expelling members who had been working against the organisation.
In 2013 former CIRA member Kieran McManus in West Belfast was shot dead by the CIRA. In the April of 2014 a former leading member of the Belfast Continuity IRA, Tommy Crossan, who had been expelled from the organisation, was shot dead.
In popular culture
The CIRA are depicted in RTE’s TV series crime drama Love / Hate as a paramilitary organisation that runs extortion rackets from pubs and criminal gangs in Dublin.
The group started operations in 1994, after the Provisional Irish Republican Army began a ceasefire.
Chronology Events of the
Continuity Irish Republican Army
actions
1994 to 2014
1994
19th December 1994: The CIRA detonated a 2 lb semtex bomb in Enniskillen.
1995
7th February 1995: A small bomb was planted by the CIRA on Newry.
1996
6th January 1996 : The Irish Republican Publicity Bureau issued a statement saying ‘a reborn Irish Republican Army had emerged led by the “Continuity Army Council”‘.
13th July 1996 : The CIRA claimed responsibility for exploding a 1,200 lb car bomb outside Kilyhelvin Hotel in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. The blast caused serious damage and injured 17 people as they were being evacuated from the hotel.
29th September 1996: The CIRA claimed responsibility for abandoning a 250 lb car bomb in Belfast. Security forces made the device safe using a controlled explosion.
21st November 1996: The CIRA claimed responsibility for planting a 600 lb bomb in Derry. It failed to explode and was made safe by the security forces.
1997
31st July 1997: The CIRA planted a bomb (estimated at between 500 and 1,000 lb) in the grounds of Carrybridge Hotel near Lisbellaw, County Fermanagh. It was defused by the British Army.
9th August 1997: The CIRA planted a hoax van bomb on Craigavon Bridge in Derry, shortly before the start of the Apprentice Boys’ parade through the city. Disturbances broke out during the march when loyalist bandsmen broke ranks to attack nationalist residents who were watching the parade.
16th September 1997: The CIRA claimed responsibility for exploding a 400 lbs van bomb outside the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base in Markethill, County Armagh. The bombing happened a day after Sinn Féin joined the political negotiations which led to the Good Friday Agreement.
30th October 1997: The CIRA claimed responsibility for planting a holdall bomb in an office of a government building in Derry. The bag contained a quantity of Semtex and petrol, but failed to detonate properly.
20th November 1997: The CIRA planted a small bomb behind Belfast City Hall. The Progressive Unionist Party claimed the device was aimed at their ground floor office.
1998
(Note: For some of the incidents in 1998, it is unclear whether the Continuity IRA, the Real IRA, or both organizations were responsible.)
6th January 1998: A 500 lb car bomb was defused by the security forces in the centre of Banbridge, County Down. A telephoned warning had been sent.
24th January 1998: Following a telephoned warning, a car bomb exploded outside the ‘River Club’ on Factory Road in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. The building was extensively damaged, but there were no injuries. It is believed the CIRA was responsible.
20th February 1998: Following a telephoned warning, a 500 lb car bomb exploded outside the RUC base in Moira, County Down. Seven RUC officers and four civilians were hurt. The blast caused widespread damage.
23rd February 1998: Following a telephoned warning, a 300 lb car bomb exploded near the RUC base on Edward Street in Portadown, County Armagh. The blast caused widespread damage but no injuries.
20th March 198: A bomb was left in the Northern Bank on Guildhall Square in Derry, and the area was cleared for four hours while the British Army defused it. The CIRA claimed responsibility and said a Republican had tried to stop the CIRA members from planting the bomb.
4th May 1998: There was an attempted mortar attack on Grosvenor Road RUC base in Belfast. One of the mortars fell short of the target and the other exploded in its launch tube.
9th May 1998: There was a mortar attack on the RUC base in Belleek, County Fermanagh. The mortars fell short of their target and one exploded as the RUC was clearing the area. There were no injuries.
15th May 1998: A car and trailer bomb were abandoned in Kinawley, County Fermanagh. The British Army recovered and made safe two mortars, containing between 100 lb and 150 lb of explosives. It is believed the CIRA was responsible.
4th September 1998: The CIRA claimed to have launched an attack on an RUC patrol on Moy Road, between Portadown, County Armagh and Moy, County Tyrone. The RUC denied any knowledge of an attack in the area.
1999
14th January 1999: There was a gun attack on Woodbourne RUC base in Belfast. Four men were later arrested. It is believed the CIRA was responsible.
4th February 1999: Channel 4 documentary Dispatches showed a CIRA propaganda video, which included members armed with a hand-held grenade launcher, an AK-47 assault rifle and a Magnum revolver.
4th May 1999: There was a gun attack on Lisnaskea RUC base in County Fermanagh. It is believed the CIRA was responsible.
1st June 1999: A telephone warning using a recognised CIRA codeword claimed a 500 lb bomb had been left in Russell Street, Armagh. The RUC searched the area disrupting rush hour traffic, but no bomb was found.
27th December 1999: Approximately 20,000 people were evacuated from Kempton Park Racecourse following a bomb alert. The CIRA was blamed.
2000
6th February 2000: The CIRA claimed responsibility for exploding a bomb at Mahon’s Hotel in Irvinestown, County Fermanagh. A telephoned warning was sent and the hotel was evacuated beforehand.
25th February 2000: The CIRA claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on Shackleton British Army Barracks in Ballykelly, County Londonderry. It caused slight damage but no injuries. Three gas cylinders packed with explosives found at the scene failed to detonate.
10th May 2000: The CIRA issued a statement calling on the Provisional IRA to disband and hand its weapons over to those who were “prepared to defend the Republic”.
19th May 2000: A series of bomb alerts caused serious disruption in Belfast. Telephoned warnings, allegedly from the CIRA, claimed bombs had been left in several locations including the BBC studios at Broadcasting House. British Army bomb disposal experts carried out several controlled explosions before declaring the area safe.
31th October 2000: The CIRA claimed responsibility for planting a pipe bomb outside Castlewellan RUC base in County Down. It was hidden under a traffic cone and badly injured an RUC officer.
17th December 2000: The CIRA was believed to have been responsible for leaving a booby-trap pipe bomb on a mountain road in Kilcoo, County Down. A telephoned warning was sent and the bomb was defused by security forces.
2001
19th July 2001: A bomb was thrown from a car and up to six shots fired during an attack on Castlewellan RUC base in County Down. The station suffered minor damage but there were no injuries.
2nd August 2001: Former Social Democratic and Labour Party MLA Eamonn O’Neill had his family car attacked with CIRA slogans in Castlewellan, County Down. It is believed the attack happened after O’Neill criticised a CIRA attack on the village’s RUC base in the weeks previous.
30th October 2001: Two gunmen, claiming to be from the CIRA, hijacked a bus in Belfast and ordered the driver to drive to Woodbourne RUC base. The men fled leaving a holdall estimated to contain 5 kg of explosives. The security forces tried to defuse the bomb but it exploded during the operation. Damage was restricted to the bus and the gates of the base, and there were no injuries.
16th December 2001: The CIRA claimed responsibility for exploding a small bomb outside a Customs and Excise office on the Killyhevlin Industrial Estate in County Fermanagh. A telephoned warning had been sent. The office was unmanned at the time and there were no injuries.
2002
14th January 2002: Over 1,000 pupils were sent home from Boys Model School in Belfast following a hoax bomb warning. The caller claimed to be from the CIRA.
21st January 2002: The CIRA was linked to a gun attack in a pub in Ardglass, County Down. Two masked gunmen entered the pub and fired shots into the ceiling before leaving. It was claimed that they were searching for a leading member of a rival republican group, intent on killing him.
12th March 2002: The CIRA were suspected off holding a family hostage in Downpatrick, County Down.
17th April 2002: The CIRA claimed responsibility for exploding a bomb at a police training college in Belfast. The blast damaged gates and fencing.
24th July 2002: The CIRA claimed responsibility for exploding a bomb on the estate of Unionist peer Alan Brooke. A small crater was found after a three day search of the 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) estate at Brookeborough, County Fermanagh.
2nd September 2002: The CIRA was blamed for a gun attack on PSNI and British Army personnel in Downpatrick, County Down. Up to five shots were fired as they searched houses in the Model Farm Estate. Nobody was injured.
25th October 2002: The CIRA was blamed for leaving a van bomb near Windsor House in Belfast. A telephone warning was sent. Witnesses reported a muffled explosion came from the van shortly before the arrival of bomb disposal experts, who then carried out a controlled explosion.
2003
8th January 2003: The CIRA claimed responsibility for planting a large firebomb at a waterworks on Castleblayney Road in Keady, County Armagh. A telephone warning was sent and the bomb was defused by security forces.
13th January 2003: The CIRA claimed responsibility for planting a firebomb outside a supermarket in Dungannon, County Tyrone. It was made safe by security forces.
2nd February 2003 : The CIRA claimed responsibility for exploding a bomb at the perimeter fence of a Territorial Army base in south Belfast. Another bomb attached to the fence was defused by security forces.
7th February 2003: The CIRA claimed responsibility for leaving a car bomb on Blacks Road, Belfast. The M1 motorway was closed while security forces made it safe.
10th February 2003: The CIRA claimed responsibility for exploding a small bomb at the back of the town hall in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. A telephone warning was sent. Three PSNI officers were hurt.
18th February 2003: The CIRA claimed responsibility for throwing two nail bombs over the perimeter fence of Antrim Road PSNI base in north Belfast. One exploded, causing minor damage, and the other was defused.
19th February 2003: A pipe bomb was found on the roof of Woodbourne PSNI base in Belfast. It was unclear when the device was thrown. The CIRA claimed responsibility.
7th May 2003: The CIRA claimed responsibility for throwing a coffee jar bomb at a PSNI patrol car in Armagh. It failed to explode.
14th October 2003: The CIRA claimed responsibility for planting an incendiary car bomb outside the PSNI base on York Road, Belfast. It was made safe by security forces.
24th November 2003: The CIRA claimed responsibility for exploding a bomb outside a British Army base in Dungannon, County Tyrone. A telephone warning was sent. Two PSNI officers were hurt while trying to clear the area.
2004
14th June 2004: The CIRA was blamed for exploding a 50 lb bomb at a golf clubhouse in Lurgan, County Armagh. The golf club was closed at the time and the bomb caused minor damage.
15th September 2004: A suspect car was found in the New Lodge area of Belfast following a telephone warning from the CIRA. The security forces carried out controlled explosions on the car.
2005
1st January 2005: The CIRA claimed responsibility for an attempted firebomb attack on Grosvenor Road PSNI base in Belfast. Two gunmen forced a taxi driver to drive the bomb to the base. It was made safe by security forces.
20th January 2005: The CIRA was believed to have been responsible for planting a pipe bomb under a van at Belcamp Crescent, Dublin. It was made safe by security forces. Two men were arrested nearby.
5th July 2005: A telephone caller, claiming to be from the CIRA, said a bomb had been thrown at a PSNI vehicle the day before in Keady, County Armagh. Security forces examined a suspicious device on Kinelowen Street, but later declared it was an elaborate hoax.
12th July 2005: The CIRA was blamed for attacking PSNI officers with blast bombs during rioting in the Ardoyne area of Belfast, following an Orange Order parade. Eighty officers were injured, one seriously, and several people were arrested.
6th November 2005: In a telephoned warning, the CIRA claimed responsibility for planting a hoax bomb during the Down Royal horseracing festival. The festival was abandoned.
8th December : A suspected CIRA member was arrested while driving a bomb through Dublin. Gardaí believe the device was intended for use against drugs gangs in the city. The man, Martin O’Rourke, was subsequently sentenced to seven years imprisonment for possession of an explosive device.
26th December 2005: The CIRA again sent a hoax bomb alert to a horse race at Down Royal. The site was evacuated but nothing was found.
2006
9th November 2006: The CIRA was believed to be responsible for firing shots at a PSNI base in Keady, County Armagh.
7th December 2006: The CIRA was believed to be responsible for planting a pipe bomb outside a PSNI base in Lurgan, County Armagh. It failed to explode.
2007
12th March 2007: The CIRA shot dead two of its former members in response to the establishment of a rival group.
11th November 2007: The IMC blamed the CIRA for a coffee jar bomb during a British Army remembrance service in Newry. The explosives were detonated inside the barrel of a ceremonial cannon during the traditional 11am silence.
2008
2nd January 2008: A CIRA unit fired a volley of shots over the grave of ex-RSF President Dan Keating at Kiltallagh Cemetery. The event was carried out to coincide with what would have been his 106th birthday.
13th February 2008: The IMC said the CIRA was responsible for orchestrating rioting and public disorder in Newry and Craigavon, during which PSNI officers came under attack from youths armed with bricks, bottles, stones and paint-bombs.
22nd March 2008: CIRA members fired a volley of shots at a commemoration in Edencork, County Tyrone.
14th June 2008: The CIRA claimed responsibility for an attempted a landmine attack on a PSNI patrol-car in Rosslea, County Fermanagh. The landmine partially exploded as the car passed, injuring two officers.
19th July 2008: The CIRA threatened to shoot civil servants from Northern Ireland’s Driver & Vehicle Agency for co-operating with the PSNI.
16th August 2008: The CIRA claimed responsibility for firing a rocket-propelled grenade at a PSNI patrol in Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh. It partially exploded, lightly hurting three officers.
25th August and 26th August 2008: The IMC blamed the CIRA for orchestrating civil disturbances, hijackings and rioting in Craigavon, County Armagh. It said that it believed the CIRA tried to lure police officers into positions where they could be attacked. A number of shots were fired during the disturbances.
4th October 2008: The IMC blamed the CIRA for a roadside bomb near Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh.
5th November 2008: The CIRA claimed responsibility for a blast-bomb attack against Lurgan PSNI base. There were no injuries.
26th November 2008: The CIRA issued threats against community workers who co-operate with the PSNI in north Belfast.
2009
12th January 2009: The CIRA fired shots at a house on the Grosvenor Road, Belfast.
14th January 2009: The CIRA claimed responsibility for destroying a JCB digger at Casement Park, Belfast. It was destroyed after the contractor refused to pay protection money to the group.
29th January 2009: The IMC blamed the CIRA for an armed robbery in Dungannon, County Tyrone.
10th February 2009: The CIRA is believed to have been responsible for leaving three pipe bombs on Shiels Street, off the Falls Road in Belfast. They were made safe by the British Army.
10th February 2009: The IMC blamed the CIRA for a hoax bomb alert in Armagh town.
3rd March 2009: The CIRA was blamed for the discovery of pipe bombs at a house in the Phibsboro area of Dublin.
9th March 2009: The CIRA claimed responsibility for shooting dead a PSNI officer in Craigavon. The officer was shot by a sniper as he and a colleague investigated a complaint of broken windows in a nearby home. This was the first police fatality in Northern Ireland since 1998.
17th May 2009: A member of the CIRA fired a volley of shots over the grave of Jim Gallagher in Derry.
15th June 2009: The CIRA claimed responsibility for a failed bomb attack against the PSNI base in Armagh town. A bomb was thrown at the base but failed to detonate properly.
13th July 2009: An armed CIRA member appeared at a riot in Armagh town.
21st September 2009: The IMC claimed the CIRA was responsible for the armed robbery of a bank in Belleek, County Donegal.
12th October 2009: The IMC blamed the CIRA for the punishment shooting of a man in his home in Belfast.
20th November 2009: The CIRA claimed responsibility for shooting a man three-times in the leg in a punishment attack in Belfast.
23rd December 2009: The IMC blamed the CIRA for the punishment shooting of a man in Belfast. The man had been convicted for a role in the death of a shopkeeper two years earlier.
2010
7th January 2010: The IMC blamed the CIRA for the punishment shooting of a man in Armagh town.
18th January 2010: The IMC blamed the CIRA for the punishment shooting of a man in Lurgan.
4th April 2010: Sixteen CIRA prisoners along with other republican prisoners barricaded themselves in the dining hall of Maghaberry Prison. The protest was in response to conditions in the prison. The stand-off ended after two days, when prison staff raided the room.
5th April 2010: The CIRA claimed responsibility for a failed car bomb attack on Crossmaglen PSNI base. A telephoned warning was given and the bomb was made safe by the British Army.
13th April 2010: The CIRA claimed responsibility for a failed car bomb attack on Newtownhamilton PSNI base. A telephoned warning was given and the bomb was made safe by the British Army.
4th May 2010: The IMC blamed the CIRA for exploding a pipe bomb outside Lurgan PSNI base. The base was unscathed but a nearby building was damaged.
17thy May 2010: The CIRA were blamed for orchestrating rioting in Lurgan. Two blast bombs and several petrol bombs were thrown at PSNI officers. Six officers suffered minor injuries.
31st May 2010: The CIRA were blamed for shooting a man in the leg at Juniper Park, Belfast.
9th June 2010: It was reported that an “unauthorised” meeting was held by disgruntled CIRA members who were allegedly seeking to set up a breakaway paramilitary group and carry out more military action. Some disgruntled members also allegedly tried to seize the offices of Republican Sinn Féin and its newspaper, Saoirse. In a statement, the CIRA leadership said that it expelled or suspended those involved.
16th June 2010: The CIRA claimed responsibility for a bomb that partially exploded outside a house in the Finglas area of Dublin.
18th June 2010: The IMC blamed the CIRA for shooting a man in the chest in West Befast. The man was shot as he tried to run away from three masked men.
11th July 2010: The CIRA was blamed for orchestrating rioting in the Broadway area of Belfast in the run-up to the 12th of July Orange Order marches. A PSNI officer was badly wounded by shotgun fire, which was also blamed on the CIRA.
13th July 2010: The IMC blamed the CIRA for firing shots at PSNI officers during rioting in Belfast.
22nd July 2010: The IMC blamed the CIRA for a pipe bomb attack on Woodbourne PSNI base in Belfast.
28th July 2010: The IMC blamed the CIRA for the kidnapping and punishment shooting of a man in Belfast.
28th July 2010: In an interview with the Irish Times, members of a “militant Northern-based faction within the CIRA” claimed to have overthrown the leadership of the organization. They also claimed that an Army Convention representing “95 per cent of volunteers” had unanimously elected a new 12-member Army Executive, which in turn appointed a new seven-member Army Council. The moves came as a result of dissatisfication with the southern-based leadership and the apparent winding-down of military operations. A senior source from Republican Sinn Féin said: “We would see them [the purported new leadership] as just another splinter group that has broken away.”
2nd August 2010: The CIRA was blamed for a blast bomb attack on Craigavon PSNI base.
14th August 2010: The IMC blamed the CIRA for a bomb attack that injured three children in Lurgan. The PSNI received a warning that a bomb had been left in the grounds of Lurgan Model Primary School. This device was found to be a hoax. Shortly after, a bomb exploded inside a bin on North Street, where the PSNI had set-up a cordon. Three children (aged twelve and two), who were walking past at the time, were hurt by debris and suffered shock.
24th August 2010: The IMC blamed the CIRA for an attempted pipe bomb attack on Woodbourne PSNI base in Belfast. The device failed to explode.
11th September 2010: The CIRA claimed responsibility for the punishment shootings of two men in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast.
29th September 2010: A CIRA firing party fired a volley of shots over the grave of veteran republican Paul Stanley in Straffan, County Kildare.
17th November 2010: The CIRA ordered a man to leave the country within a week or face being killed, this came after a CIRA attack on the man in Tallaght, Dublin.
2011
16th March 2011: The CIRA was blamed for the punishment beating of a heroin dealer in Clondalkin, Dublin.
6th July 2011: The CIRA were blamed for hijacking vehicles and firing shots at a police patrol during disturbances in Craigavon. The trouble started after Republican Sinn Féin president Des Dalton was arrested during a public meeting.
17th September: The CIRA claimed responsibility for firing a rocket-propelled grenade at a PSNI vehicle in Craigavon. The alleged attack happened on Lake Road, between roundabouts one and two of Craigavon, shortly after midnight. There were no reports of injuries.
2012
26th July 2012: The Continuity IRA released a statement claiming that a new leadership (Army Council) had been elected.
2013
25th January 2013: The CIRA claimed responsibility for firing shots at the PSNI in the Drumbeg estate in Craigavon.
30th March 2013: A small bomb exploded near PSNI landrovers in the Kilwilkie area of Lurgan. It had been hidden in a bin. The PSNI were monitoring an unnotified march that included masked CIRA members.
6th April 2013: The CIRA claimed responsibility for shooting dead a former member in West Belfast. Kieran McManus was killed by a masked man welding a shotgun in front of his 16 year old brother. The Continuity IRA claimed he was killed for “terrorising his community with knives, hatchets and swords”. In a telephone statement the Northern command of the CIRA claimed it was prepared to kill former members if they engaged in anti-social behaviour and criminal activity using the Continuity IRA’s name.
2014
14th March 2014: The CIRA claimed responsibility for planting a booby-trap bomb under a PSNI officer’s car in Belfast. The bomb was found after it fell off the car on Blacks Road. The CIRA added that it “has had a complete reorganization […] and is now in a position to sustain and carry out attacks on occupational forces throughout Ireland”.
Sourced from Wikipedia