Nya IRA: ”Brexit har gett oss nya möjligheter”

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 RIRA sees itself as the only rightful successor to the original Irish Republican Army and styles itself as "the Real 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, RIRA 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. The RIRA is the largest and most active of the "dissident republican" paramilitary groups operating against the British security forces since the Provisional IRA signed the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. 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/or disruption. The most notable of these was the 1998 Omagh bombing, which killed 29 people. After that bombing the RIRA 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".