What sort of tactics did the Irish Republican Army use?

Answer 1

The IRA fought a guerrilla war against the Crown forces in Ireland from 1919 to July 1921. The most intense period of the war was from November 1920 to July 1921. The IRA campaign can broadly be split into three phases. The first, in 1919, involved the re-organisation of the Irish Volunteers as a guerrilla army. On paper, there were 100,000 or so Volunteers enrolled after the conscription crisis of 1918. However, only about 15,000 of these participated in the guerrilla war. In 1919, Collins, the IRA's Director of Intelligence, organised the "Squad"—an assassination unit based in Dublin which killed police involved in intelligence work. Typical of Collin's sardonic sense of humour, the squad was often referred to as his "Twelve Apostles". In addition, there were some arms raids on Royal Irish Constabulary barracks for arms. By the end of 1919, four Dublin Metropolitan Police and 11 RIC men had been killed. The RIC abandoned most of their smaller rural barracks in late 1919. Around 400 of these were burned in a co-ordinated IRA operation around the country in April 1920.

The second phase of the IRA campaign, roughly from January to July 1920, involved attacks on the fortified police barracks located in the towns. Between January and June 1920, 16 of these were destroyed and 29 badly damaged. Several events of late 1920 greatly escalated the conflict. Firstly, the British declared martial law in parts of the country—allowing for internment and executions of IRA men. Secondly they deployed paramilitary forces the Black and Tans and Auxiliary Division and more British Army personnel into the country. Thus, the third phase of the war (roughly August 1920–July 1921) involved the IRA taking on a greatly expanded British force, moving away from attacking well defended barracks and instead using ambush tactics. To this end the IRA was re-organised into "flying columns"—permanent guerrilla units, usually about 20 strong, though sometimes larger. In rural areas, the flying columns usually had bases in remote mountainous areas.

Belfast had a Protestant and Unionist majority and IRA actions were responded to with ferocious reprisals against the Catholic population, including killings and the burning of many homes. The IRA in Belfast and the north generally, was therefore mostly involved in protecting the Catholic community from loyalists and state forces.

In April 1921, the IRA was again reorganised, in line with the Dáil's endorsement of its actions, along the lines of a regular army. Divisions were created based on region, with commanders being given responsibility, in theory, for large geographical areas.

In May 1921, the IRA in Dublin attacked and burned the The Custom House. The action was a severe blow to the IRA, who had five killed and eighty captured.

By the end of the war, in July 1921, the IRA was very hard pressed by the deployment of more British troops into the most active areas and a chronic shortage of arms and ammunition. It has been estimated that the IRA had only about 3,000 rifles (mostly captured from the British) during the war, with a larger number of shotguns and pistols. An ambitious plan to buy arms from Italy in 1921 collapsed when the money did not reach the arms dealers. Towards the end of the war, some Thompson submachine guns were imported from the United States; however 450 of these were intercepted by the American authorities and the remainder only reached Ireland shortly before the Truce.

By June 1921, Collins' assessment was that the IRA was within weeks, possibly even days, of collapse. It had few weapons or ammunition left. Moreover, almost 5,000 IRA men had been imprisoned or interned and over 500 killed. Collins and Mulcahy estimated that the number of effective guerrilla fighters was down to 2,000–3,000.

During the Second World War, the IRA leadership hoped for support from Germany to strike against Britain during the war, and Seán Russell travelled to Germany in 1940 to canvass for arms. Stephen Hayes, the acting Chief of Staff prepared an invasion plan for Northern Ireland and sent it to German Intelligence in 1940, this plan was later called Plan Kathleen. In 1942, the IRA launched an armed campaign in Northern Ireland. It has been rumoured that during the war period IRA members may have attempted to aid the German aerial bombing of industrial targets in Northern Ireland.

After the Battle of the Bogside both the RUC and Protestants retaliated against the Catholics by burning there houses down. The IRA fail to support the Catholics and the British Government sent in the British Army to restore order, many Catholics initially welcomed this move.

The Provisional IRA was officially founded in December 1969. In the early years of the Troubles, the Provisional IRA's strategy was to use as much force as possible to cause the collapse of the Northern Ireland administration and to inflict enough casualties on the British forces that the British government would be forced by public opinion to withdraw from Ireland. A policy described by Sean MacStiofain as "escalation, escalation and escalation". This was modelled on the success of the Irish Republican Army in the Irish War of Independence 1919–1922 and was articulated in slogans such as "Victory 1972". However, this policy failed to take into account the strong unionist commitment to remain within the United Kingdom and the risk that an armed campaign would result not in a united Ireland, but in a sectarian civil war.

The IRA Border campaign in the 1950s had avoided actions in urban centres of Northern Ireland to avoid provoking retaliatory attacks on the Catholic/nationalist community there. The Provisional IRA's determination to carry out such a campaign and risk escalating sectarian violence was one of the principal areas of disagreement between the Provisional and Official IRAs.

The British government held secret talks with the IRA leadership in 1972 to try and secure a ceasefire based on a compromise settlement within Northern Ireland after the events of Bloody Sunday when IRA recruitment and support increased. The IRA agreed to a temporary ceasefire from 26 June to 9 July. In July 1972, IRA leaders Seán Mac Stíofáin, Dáithí Ó Conaill, Ivor Bell, Seamus Twomey, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness met a British delegation led by William Whitelaw. The IRA leaders refused to consider a peace settlement that did not include a commitment to British withdrawal, a retreat of the British Army to barracks and a release of republican prisoners. The British refused and the talks broke up.

Thereafter, the IRA, under the leadership of Adams and his supporters, evolved a new strategy termed the "Long War", which underpinned IRA strategy for the rest of the Troubles. It involved a re-organisation of the IRA into small cells, an acceptance that their campaign would last many years before being successful and an increased emphasis on political activity through the Sinn Féin party. A republican document of the early 1980s states, "Both Sinn Féin and the IRA play different but converging roles in the war of national liberation. The Irish Republican Army wages an armed campaign... Sinn Féin maintains the propaganda war and is the public and political voice of the movement". The 1977 edition of the Green Book, an induction and training manual used by the Provisionals, describes the strategy of the "Long War" in these terms:

- A war of attrition against enemy personnel [British Army] based on causing as many deaths as possible so as to create a demand from their [the British] people at home for their withdrawal.
- A bombing campaign aimed at making the enemy's financial interests in our country unprofitable while at the same time curbing long term investment in our country.
- To make the Six Counties... ungovernable except by colonial military rule.
- To sustain the war and gain support for its ends by National and International propaganda and publicity campaigns.
- By defending the war of liberation by punishing criminals, collaborators and informers

According to the CAIN research project at the University of Ulster, the Provisional IRA was responsible for the deaths of 1,821 people during the Troubles up to 2001. This figure represents 48.4 percent of the total fatalities in the conflict.

621 of these casualties were civilians.
655 were British armed forces; 465 British Army, 190 Ulster Defence Regiment.
272 Royal Ulster Constabulary, 14 former Royal Ulster Constabulary members, 6 British Police, 20 Northern Ireland Prison Service officers, 2 former prison officers.
35 loyalist paramilitaries (21 UDA, 3 former UDA, 11 UVF
6 Gardai and 1 Irish Army.
180 republican paramilitaries, including 12 Official IRA members, 1 Irish People's Liberation Organisation member, 63 alleged informers and 103 accidental deaths of Provisional IRA members due to premature explosions.
CAIN calculates that of 1706 victims, 340 were Northern Irish Catholics, 794 were Northern Irish Protestants and 572 were not from Northern Ireland.

The IRA lost 276 members during the Troubles according to the CAIN figures. In roughly 123 of these cases, IRA members caused their own deaths. 8 IRA members died on hunger strike. 100 or so were killed by their own explosives in premature bombing accidents. 13 were killed on allegations of having worked for the security forces. Most of the remaining 200 or so IRA killed were by the British Army, followed by the RUC and then the loyalist paramilitaries.

Answer 2

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If America invaded North Korea it would be with South Korea at its side just like during the Korean war. It would probably be more along the lines of an Iraq type invasion when compared to an Afghanistan type invasion. The Iraq invasion meaning that we take over but the people use suicide bombs, IEDs and Guerilla warfare in the cities. In Afghanistan which is like the scenario you have mentioned they use guerilla tactics more than suicide bombs mostly because they don't have as many volunteers for the Taliban in the countryside. You would also have to worry about mercenaries and soldiers from China aiding the North Koreans much like they did in Vietnam and the Korean War. And when it comes to Japan I don't believe they would put up much of a fight with the United States based on the fact that they have a tiny armed force. A war wouldn't break out among us and Japan mostly because our forces would wipe theirs out in a matter of hours. And we also supply them currently with a lot of military power. Another thing to consider with both North Korea and Japan is that neither country has any sort of civilian weaponry. Japan is widely against guns in citizens hands and so is North Korea. So on that fact you would have to look into improvised weapons, much like the pipe bombs used by the IRA (Irish Republican Army). A black market would probably show up in Japan but not as big in North Korea mostly because you have to have guns to scare people into loving Kim Jong Un.

Answer 3

America's military is SIGNIFICANTLY larger than Japan AND North Korea put together. That being said, there would be no all out war. Instead, they would insert a biological virus into our fine nation leading to a Zombie Apocalypse. In which case, there would be widespread hysteria with people committing suicide and people from Doomsday Preppers laughing at the rest of those who had not thought ahead. If this be the case, run to the nearest Walmart and hole up with the first redneck you meet. Because, according to the TV show The Walking Dead, rednecks or "hicks" to the common folk, know what they are doing and are able to defend themselves at all cost. However, after a month or two in Walmart, a city slicker may look awful cute to a redneck. So, when you shower with the hose in the gardening section, do not drop the soap. In conclusion: If America should go to war with Japan or North Korea, buy a bar of soap with a loop of rope to hang around your neck.

Answer 4

Ira Tactics

Answer 5

A question like this is bound to bring the worms out of the woodwork! However, I'll attempt to answer your question directly.

The IRA's tactics since 1969 went through several phases.

At first, they had few weapons or members and when catholic areas came under sustained attack by extreme loyalist mobs supported by the police reserve, trying to burn out whole neighbourhoods, they did nothing. That was the time they were called the "I Ran Aways".

Then they split into the Official IRA and Provisional IRA. The latter came to be the de facto IRA. Their tactic was just to defend catholic areas against loyalist rioters and their police supporters. Gradually, the Police and police reserve were completely exhausted.

When British soldiers were deployed on the streets "In support of the civil power", it didn't take them long to show their partiality to suppress nationalist dissent and then the IRA's tactic was tro attack the army through classic guerilla warfare.

After these stages, the IRA announced that they would proceed to economic sabotage and that was the bombing campaign, which was sometimes aimed at British military personnel but moslty at economic targets. As a guerilla army, they knew they could not force a British withdrawal by military means, so their idea was that they could make the place too expensive to keep. This continued to be the tactic into the 80's, with anothr tactic of countering British intelligence agents and their loyalist supporters.

There was more or less a stalemate then during the 80's. The new leadership emerging in Belfast then went on a long-term tactic of supporting constitutional means to effect change. Thay put all their energies into building Sinn Féin up as a party and that continues to be their tactic today.

The IRA is still there - the main wing, the Provisional IRA, is there in structure only and has disarmed but there are also two other groups which split away from them during the moves towards constitutional tactics. The "Real IRA" were the ones responsible for the Omagh bombings. The "Continuity IRA" have been quieter but they carry out attacks against military and police still from time to time.

It's pointless people like the above contributors condemning the IRA when it was obvious that during all their campaign the IRA had considerable support form the people against the forces which oppressed them, and that's why they became the longest surving urban guerlilla group the world has ever seen.

Both "Molly" and "Connaught" need to realise that the IRA saw themselves as soldiers, they main difference was that they didn't get a salary and career structure for it. All soldiers accept that part of the consequences of their activities is that they might be killed. Trotting out comparision with Al Q'aeda is silly and childish and is obviously meant to alienate the support that the IRA got from Americans.

Use of the word "terrorist" might have some effect if somebody could define what it meant. Attacking and killing soldiers is not a terrorist activity and doesn't equate to Al q'aeda.

And "Connaught", the "Old IRA" weren't saints either. They were, if anything, more ruthless in wiping out both British army, the Royal Irish Constabulary, and any informers or supporters in the civilian poplulation. The present IRA would balk at some of their actions - at one stage, in Dunmanway, West Cork, they shot dead about 20 informers in a room - just slaughtered after giving them time to say a prayer. We can point to the Black and Tans, whose actions were much worse, but these things were done as well.

And their attitude at that time to your "Connaught Rangers" would have been the same as the RIC - open season.

Personally, I wouldn't have have agreed with all the things the IRA did, but it's easy for me, I never had to put up with the stuff people in the North did.

Answer 6

What a load of hypocrisy. All those people here getting uptight about what the IRA did isn't a fraction of what your brave UK and US boys get up to daily in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Knocking on doors? We've all seen the footage of what your terrorists do as they kick down the doors of innocent people prior to dragging them off to the hell-holes of AbuGhraib. We've seen what your sick perverts do in places like AbuGhraib. We've seen the footage of what your super-brave heroes do with cluster bombs dropped from 30 000 feet. A quick look on U Tube can show the fun your boys as they take pot shots at passing mototrists

And Mountbatten? What loss was he? There must have been millions in India who remember how he was responsible tfor the carve-up of India which resulted in the death of at least a million people. Was he a war hero or a war idiot - was it his life put on the line or hundreds of Brit seamen by his utterly stupid naval decisions?

Guys get your perspective right before you get self-righteous and flag-waving.

There is nothing any Irish group has done, of any politics or religion, at any time in any place in any way, which would compare in any way with the sheer inhumanity of what your guys get up to in every generation.

Answer 7

The same tactics all terrorist use to target kill and maim the innocent citizens going about their normal lives.
A prime example is the bombing in Omagh they placed car bombs in the main street and the busiest day of the year like the cowardly murdering scum they are.
My fathers cousin was killed while on duty in the army he was lead into a bobby trap by a 6 yr old child so they are no different to Al Queda.

Answer 8

TERROR TACTICS pure and simple mainly aimed at the civilian population!
The I.R.A. of the 70's - 2000's should not be confused with the early Irish Republican Army who fought against the British between 1900-1920 they fought mainly against the Royal Irish Constabulary, The British Army, and against the "Black & Tans" British Irregular Forces.
The Old I.R.A. were honourable soldiers fighting for the Independence of Ireland, they fought man to man with the above mentioned security forces and and were held in respect by their opposition.

Not like the scum in the modern IRA who glorfied killing innocents to justify their cause,

Answer 9

Assassination
Bombing
Kidnapping
Extortion
Arson

Generally they consider them self's as Patriots with a cause.
But their unrelenting attacks and unwillingness to negotiate
tend to make them look more like terrorist.

Answer 10

1

Answer 11

Bombs, Nail Bombs, Car Bombs, Assasinations, Kidnappings etc.

Bloody Friday was a single event that really says what they were about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Friday_(1972)

It should be noted though that the IRA changed over the years from its inception to now and there were many splinter groups of it.