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Konflikten i Nordirland (engelska: The Troubles, iriska: Na Trioblóidí) var den mest intensiva perioden av den inre konflikten i Nordirland. Den började av olika anledningar år 1969 och kan anses vara avslutad 2007, eftersom Nordirland efter långfredagsavtalet 1998 har fått självstyre med en regering där både lojalister (protestanter) och republikaner (katoliker) är med. Konflikten rådde mellan å ena sidan republikanska grupper (främst bestående av katoliker) som ville integrera den brittiska provinsen Nordirland med republiken Irland och å andra sidan Storbritannien samt lojalistiska grupper (främst bestående av protestanter) som motsatte sig detta. Alla de paramilitära grupperna har lagt ner sina vapen, upplösts eller iakttagit en långvarig vapenvila. Dissidentrepublikanska Real IRA och Continuity IRA har utfört terrordåd under 2009 och sedan 2016, men dessa grupper är små och har begränsat folkligt stöd.

The Real Irish Republican Army or Real IRA (RIRA), also called the New IRA (NIRA) after a merger in 2012, is a dissident Irish republican paramilitary group which aims to bring about a united Ireland. It formed in 1997 following a split in the Provisional IRA by dissident members, who rejected the IRA's ceasefire that year. Like the Provisional IRA before it, the Real IRA sees itself as the only rightful successor to the original Irish Republican Army and styles itself as simply "the Irish Republican Army" in English or Óglaigh na hÉireann in Irish. It is an illegal organisation in the Republic of Ireland and designated as a proscribed terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom and the United States. Since its formation, the Real IRA has waged a campaign in Northern Ireland against the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)—formerly the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC)—and the British Army. It is the largest and most active of the "dissident republican" paramilitary groups operating against the British security forces. It has targeted the security forces in gun attacks and bombings, and with grenades, mortars and rockets. The organisation has also been responsible for bombings in Northern Ireland and England with the goal of causing economic harm and disruption. The most notable of these was the 1998 Omagh bombing, which killed 29 people. After that bombing the Real IRA went on ceasefire, but resumed operations again in 2000. In March 2009 it claimed responsibility for an attack on Massereene Barracks which killed two British soldiers, the first to be killed in Northern Ireland since 1997. The Real IRA has also been involved in vigilantism, mainly against drug dealers and organised crime gangs. In Dublin in particular it has been accused of extortion and engaging in feuds with these gangs. In July 2012 it was reported that Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) and other small republican militant groups were merging with the Real IRA. This new entity was named the "New IRA" by the media, but members continue to identify themselves as simply "the Irish Republican Army". Small pockets of the Real IRA that did not merge with the New IRA continue have a presence in Republic of Ireland, particularly in Cork and to a lesser extent in Dublin.