Irish Republican Army

The IRA, or the Provisional Irish Republican Army, is an Irish paramilitary group who had goals of reuniting Ireland and to remove United Kingdom influence. The group separated from the Irish Republican Army because of the two factions' conflicting agendas. The PIRA desired to unite Northern Ireland with the Irish Free State by violent means. The army is comprised of volunteers trained in the use of firearms and explosives. In order to execute their agenda, soldiers used bombing attacks to terrify their British occupiers. These bombings include the Manchester and Docklands bombings. Recently, in 2005 the IRA Army Council decided to use peaceful political means to accomplish their agenda instead of using violence, bringing an end to the armed campaign.