A Secret History of the IRA

by Ed Moloney

  Northern Sinn Fein leaders win ban on standing in council elections

  Father Reid suffers a nervous breakdown

  Death toll for year is 86, cumulative toll is 2281

  1981

  Second jail hunger strike starts

  IRA prison leader Bobby Sands elected MP for Fermanagh–South Tyrone

  When Sands dies Owen Carron is elected in his place

  Two IRA prisoners elected to the Dail in Dublin

  Qaddafi resumes cash payments to IRA

  Hunger strike ends with ten deaths

  IRA prisoners condemn behavior of Catholic Church, SDLP and Irish government during the prison protest

  Hunger strike support committees become new Sinn Fein branches

  Sinn Fein adopts “Armalite and ballot box” strategy and agrees to contest elections

  Army Council endorses the decision

  Christin ni Elias escapes possible IRA assassination along with British diplomat

  Death toll for year is 117, cumulative toll is 2398

  1982

  Army Council allows Adams and McGuinness to stand in elections to new NI Assembly but McGuinness forced to quit as chief of staff while Adams stands down as adjutant-general, the last time he holds rank in the IRA

  Ivor Bell becomes new chief of staff

  Christin ni Elias forced out of Sinn Fein

  Sinn Fein wins ten percent of the vote in Assembly elections, causing political sensation

  UDR Sergeant Cochrane kidnapped and killed by IRA in South Armagh; Father Reid intercedes for him with Adams and begins discussions that lead to the peace process

  Sinn Fein rejects Eire Nua policy in major defeat for O Bradaigh–O Conaill faction; Army Council had already ditched it

  New Sinn Fein leadership dominated by Adams camp

  Death toll for year is 112, cumulative toll is 2510

  1983

  Gerry Adams elected MP for West Belfast, Sinn Fein tops 100,000 votes in British general election

  Adams succeeds Ruairi O Bradaigh as president of Sinn Fein as old guard is vanquished

  Ivor Bell forced to quit as chief of staff after arrest

  Kevin McKenna succeeds him

  Cardinal O Fiach and Bishop Edward Daly of Derry write Father Reid letters of comfort supporting his talks with Adams

  Bishop Cahal Daly of Down and Connor rejects offer of participation in talks with Adams-Reid group

  Major IRA jail escape: 38 inmates break out of Maze, formerly Long Kesh

  Fall of Kevin Mallon over botched IRA kidnappings

  Death toll for year is 87, cumulative toll is 2597

  1984

  Adams makes his correspondence with Cahal Daly public

  Libyan embassy in London closed after policewoman shot dead

  Libyan intelligence service negotiates arms and cash deal with IRA Army Council

  Sinn Fein vote falls in Euro election

  Rebellion against Adams leadership by Ivor Bell and Belfast Brigade staff over resources devoted to elections fails

  Army Council plans Irish “Tet offensive”

  Through intermediaries Adams floats possibility of IRA ceasefire

  Adams calls for a pan-nationalist political initiative

  IRA bomb Grand Hotel, Brighton, killing five people attending

  Conservative annual conference; Margaret Thatcher narrowly escapes death

  Death toll for year is 72, cumulative toll is 2669

  1985

  Anglo-Irish Agreement signed; gives Dublin a consultative say in NI’s affairs.

  Michael McKevitt appointed QMG and Slab Murphy made director of operations to oversee Libyan operation

  Martin McGuinness made Northern Commander

  Sinn Fein vote drops again in local council elections

  Casamara makes two trips from Libya carrying seventeen tons of weapons

  Adams publicly seeks talks with SDLP leader John Hume; he also calls for a united nationalist approach to North

  Death toll for year is 58, cumulative toll is 2727

  1986

  Father Reid first approaches Charles Haughey on behalf of Gerry Adams

  Contact may also have been opened at this point with Tory NI secretary of state, Tom King

  Correspondence between Adams and King leads to secret British offer of talks with Sinn Fein and on terms for IRA cease-fire

  Secret British letter tells Adams that London has no interests in NI and offers new definition of British withdrawal

  IRA lift ban on taking seats in the Dail at first General Army Convention held since 1970; Sinn Fein follow suit at Ard Fheis—number of delegates nearly doubles for this one meeting

  Qaddafi’s daughter killed in U.S. air raid launched from Britain

  Kula ships 14 tons of guns from Libya

  Villa ships 105 tons including Semtex explosives

  Vetting of IRA operations by Northern Command intensifies

  McGuinness secures authority to appoint Brigade and ASU OCs in North

  McGuinness briefs IRA Executive and IRA field commanders about large arms shipments, saying more is on the way

  Adams calls for public British declaration of no interests in NI

  Death toll for year is 66, cumulative toll is 2793

  1987

  Charles Haughey becomes taoiseach after Fianna Fail returns to power

  East Tyrone Brigade dissidents meet to discuss breaking away from IRA

  Eksund trip is postponed when IRA learns Irish Army is expecting its arrival on east coast of country

  Sinn Fein publish “Scenario for Peace,” calling for all-Ireland constitutional conference in line with Reid–Adams proposal and replaces “Brits Out” with demand for national self-determination

  Jim Lynagh, East Tyrone commander, disputes with IRA chief of staff over Northern Command knowledge of planned Loughgall ambush

  East Tyrone IRA unit wiped out in SAS ambush at Loughgall

  Within days Father Reid sends detailed IRA cease-fire offer from Adams to Haughey outlining proposal for pannationalist alliance and acceptance of principle of consent to Irish unity

  Later Reid formulates the “concrete proposals” and “stepping stones” documents outlining pan-nationalist political alliance as alternative to IRA violence and a constitutional convention to discuss settlement

  On urging of Adams and McGuinness, Army Council orders Eksund to set sail; other members advised sending a smaller shipment to test for informers— Eksund is intercepted off Brittany coast, betrayed by IRA informer

  IRA’s “Tet offensive” is drastically scaled down

  Libyans cut off supplies of cash to IRA

  MI6’s Michael Oatley approaches IRA leadership

  Enniskillen cenotaph bomb, approved by Northern Command, kills eleven Protestants

  Haughey arranges for Hume to represent Irish government in talks with Adams

  IRA color party at Bodenstown commemoration demilitarized

  IRA ends practice of firing shots over members’ coffins at IRA funerals

  Death toll for year is 106, cumulative toll is 2899

  1988

  Army Council secretly softens terms for British withdrawal, saying it can take up to twenty years to happen

  Adams tells Army Council of approach from Reid for talks with Haughey

  Hume–Adams talk begin

  SDLP–SF delegations meet and conclude with no agreement

  Secret contacts between Hume and Adams resume immediately afterwards

  IRA attempt to kill British Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe in Brussels apparently betrayed

  Gibraltar bombing ends with three IRA deaths amidst suspicion of betrayal

  Republican leaders deny IRA cease-fire on the agenda of SDLP talks

  Tom King suspends Reid–Adams dialogue in angry response to upsurge in IRA violence

  Secret unionist–nationalist conference in Duisburg, Germany, attended by Father Reid

  IRA adopt policy of t
argeting British military personnel as more acceptable to putative nationalist allies in Republic

  Civilian deaths in IRA operations rise

  IRA grassroots react badly to Sinn Fein leadership suggestions of alliance with SDLP

  For first time police permission sought for Easter IRA parade in Belfast Sinn Fein use NI courts to complain of discriminatory treatment in councils

  Sinn Fein members allowed to cooperate with Irish police over McAnespie Border killing by British army

  Army Council lays down strict conditions for retaliations against loyalist groups

  Death toll for year is 105, cumulative toll is 3004

  1989

  Sinn Fein criticism of botched IRA operations intensifies

  Major IRA informer Joe Fenton killed before he can be fully interrogated

  Peter Brooke succeeds Tom King as secretary of state and inherits Father Reid conduit to Adams

  Brooke raises possibility of talks with Sinn Fein

  IRA flying column attack at Derryard betrayed by informer

  Grassroots IRA unease at Northern Command control increases

  Death toll for year is 81, cumulative is 3085

  1990

  Adams threatens to quit IRA over civilian deaths and seeks separation of Sinn Fein and IRA

  Revolutionary Council revived to curb IRA

  Adams raises possibility of unannounced cease-fire

  IRA dismisses speculation of an end to IRA violence

  Brooke says Britain had “no selfish strategic or economic interest” in staying in NI

  Northern Command secures Army Council permission to use “human bomb” tactic

  MI5 officer John Deverill tells Brooke of new British linkman in secret talks with IRA

  Danny Morrison arrested in Belfast

  Martin McGuinness proposes formal Christmas cease-fire, the first official cessation since 1975

  Army Council debates cease-fire amid claims it would need Convention approval

  MI6 representative Michael Oatley holds talks with Army Council chairman, McGuinness

  Death toll for year is 84, cumulative toll is 3169

  1991

  Massive criticism of “human bomb” attack in Derry intensifies secret contact between Martin McGuinness, Peace & Reconciliation Group and British aimed at de-escalating conflict in the city

  Thatcher resigns as British prime minister

  Sinn Fein says it will no longer speak for IRA

  Haughey relaunches peace initiative with new British leader, John Major

  First versions of joint government declaration on NI, otherwise known as Hume–Adams document, drafted

  Death toll for year is 102, cumulative toll is 3271

  1992

  Adams loses West Belfast seat to SDLP after string of poor election performances by Sinn Fein

  Haughey ousted, succeeded by Albert Reynolds, who backs process and keeps on Martin Mansergh as NI adviser

  Sinn Fein publishes “Towards a Lasting Peace”

  Hume–Adams document agreed but omits time period for British withdrawal

  Death toll for year is 91, cumulative toll is 3362

  1993

  Hume–Adams contacts publicly revealed for first time

  Sinn Fein’s vote rises for first time in a decade

  British send Army Council “Nine Pointer” insisting on “agreed accommodation”

  Army Council reject “Nine Pointer”

  Adams persuades Army Council not to end talks with British

  Army Council replies to British with demand for withdrawal

  Army Council begins to vet operations and bans commercial bombing

  New drafts of Hume–Adams fail to bridge gap over Army Council demand for timescale for British withdrawal

  Irish prime minister, Albert Reynolds, negotiates separate document with British, called Downing Street Declaration (DDS)

  Shankill bomb kills nine Protestants and one IRA man

  Adams carries coffin of Shankill bomber

  Loyalist violence claims sixteen lives

  Death toll for year is 90, cumulative toll is 3452

  1994

  Army Council rejects DSD

  Adams persuades Council to hide decision and seek clarification

  McGuinness says DSD worthless unless it has a hidden meaning

  IRA and Sinn Fein grassroots assured of no cease-fire

  IRA mini-Convention opposes cease-fire

  Reynolds lifts Irish broadcasting ban on Sinn Fein

  Bill Clinton grants Adams 48-hour visa for trip to New York

  Think tank develops TUAS strategy offering cease-fire in return for pan-nationalist alliance

  Reynolds send 14-point cease-fire proposal to Army Council

  Army Council votes five to one with one abstention for four-month cease-fire

  British make working assumption cease-fire is permanent; Border roads reopened, broadcasting ban lifted

  Army Council disowns South Armagh post office robbery

  British raise IRA decommissioning demand and NI Secretary Sir Patrick Mayhew outlines, “Washington Three” demands

  McGuinness says he would accept less than Irish unity if this was will of Irish people

  Army Council extends cease-fire until April 1995

  Death toll for year is 69, cumulative toll is 3521

  1995

  Adams would accept Stormont Assembly if “transitional” to Irish unity

  “Frameworks” document foresees power-sharing government and North–South bodies

  West Belfast Westminster seat redrawn to favor Adams reelection chances

  Republican grassroots assured cease-fire is temporary

  British harden demand for IRA decommissioning before Sinn Fein gets into talks

  Clinton gives Adams visa to raise funds in United States

  Reynolds government falls, replaced by anti-Sinn Fein Rainbow Coalition

  British propose political talks and decommissioning body in tandem

  Fifty percent remission restored to IRA prisoners

  IRA statement says “no possibility of disarmament except as part of a negotiated settlement”

  First British troop withdrawals

  Adams tells republican demonstration that IRA hasn’t gone away

  Senator George Mitchell to head decommissioning body

  DAAD killings a cover for IRA

  Sinn Fein make submission to Mitchell body

  McGuinness suggests voluntary self-decommissioning

  IRA calls decommissioning issue “a deliberate and stalling tactic” by British, saying demand is “ludicrous” and adding that it would not happen “either through the front or back doors”

  Friends of Sinn Fein set up in United States as Noraid is downgraded

  IRA calls demand for decommissioning “untenable and unattainable demand for an IRA surrender”

  Death toll for year is 9, cumulative toll is 3530

  1996

  IRA Executive calls for extraordinary IRA Convention to discuss peace process

  Army Council votes seven to nil to end cease-fire

  Senator Mitchell publishes six principles of non-violence to govern political talks

  Huge truck bomb kills two and causes 100 million damage at Canary Wharf, London

  IRA campaign confined to England

  Election to negotiating body see Sinn Fein win highest vote ever as nationalists try to strengthen Adams’s hand

  On eve of delayed Convention car bombs exploded inside British army’s NI HQ, killing one

  Adams survives Convention when dissidents fail to capture Army Council but suffers setbacks

  Power to decommission taken away from Army Council and given to Convention

  McGuinness tells Convention there will be no second cease-fire

  Brian Keenan deserts dissidents at Convention and backs Adams

  Death toll for year is 22, cumulative toll is 3552

  1997

  McGuinne
ss steps down as Northern Commander but retains Army Council chairmanship

  IRA ordered to concentrate on British military targets, commercial bombings again banned

  Adams writes letter of condolence to mother of British soldier killed by South Armagh IRA sniper squad

  South Armagh sniper squad arrested

  British general election called

  Army Council authorizes “tactical period of quiet” for election but doesn’t tell Executive

  Tony Blair wins huge majority as New Labour forms new British government

  McGuinness wins Mid-Ulster seat

  British aide-mémoire sets out terms for new IRA cease-fire

  Political talks and IRA decommissioning to happen in parallel

  IRA mini-Convention rejects aide-mémoire

  McGuinness tells Executive there will be no second cease-fire

  Fianna Fail wins election in Republic; Bertie Ahern becomes taoiseach

  Ahern government sets out terms for new cease-fire

  Four days before controversial Garvaghy Orange march Army Council votes seven to nil for second cease-fire; decision kept secret for several weeks

  March forced through Catholic area

  IRA Executive and Army Council clash over cease-fire decision

  In a row over the Mitchell principles the Executive suggests Adams et al. should quit IRA to enable Sinn Fein participation political talks

  Dissidents defeated at Convention

  Belfast Brigade commander Brian Gillen switches sides to back Adams and wins Army Council seat

  Kevin McKenna loses job as chief of staff, Slab Murphy takes over

  Executive members, led by QMG Micky McKevitt, quit IRA

  Real IRA formed

  All-party talks start at Stormont; Sinn Fein attend and subscribe to Mitchell principles

  Death toll for year is 21, cumulative toll 3573

  1998

  Good Friday Agreement negotiated

  Pope welcomes agreement

  IRA Convention lifts abstentionist ban on taking seats in Stormont Assembly