The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) is an Irish republican paramilitary organization which was formed on December 8, 1974. It is the military wing of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement (a political wing, the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), was formed the same day). The founders were Seamus Costello and other activists who had left or been forced out of the Official IRA in the wake of the OIRA's 1972 ceasefire and the increasingly reformist approach of Official Sinn Fein. Costello espoused a mixture of traditional republican militarism and Marxist-oriented politics. It enjoyed its peak of influence in the late 1970s and early '80s and is one of the smaller armed republican groups in Ireland. Fianna Fáil - The Republican Party (Pronounced fee-na fall.) (English: Soldiers of Destiny) is the largest political party in the Republic of Ireland. ... December 8 is the 342nd day (343rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1974 calendar). ... The Irish Republican Socialist Movement in an umbrella term for the political-paramilitary grouping, the Irish Republican Socialist Party and Irish National Liberation Army. ... Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) describes itself as a republican socialist party and claims to be both Marxist and republican. ... Seamus Costello (1939 - 1977) was a leader in Sinn Féin and the Official Irish Republican Army. ... The term Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA refers to one of the two organisations - the other being the Provisional Irish Republican Army - that emerged from the split in the then Irish Republican Army in 1969-70. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Tuesday. ... Official Sinn Féin (aka Sinn Féin the Workers Party) evolved from the split in Sinn Féin and the IRA that took place in 1970. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ...

Foundation

Shortly after it was founded, the INLA came under attack from their former comrades in the OIRA, who wanted to destroy the new grouping before it could get off the ground. On 20 February 1975, Hugh Ferguson, an INLA member and an IRSP branch chairperson, was the first person to be killed. One of the first so-called military operations of the INLA was the murder of Billy McMillan. a leading OIRA member in Belfast and this was followed by several more assassinations on both sides, the most prominent victim being Seamus Costello, who was shot dead on Gardiner Street in Dublin on 6 October 1977. February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Seamus Costello (1939 - 1977) was a leader in Sinn Féin and the Official Irish Republican Army. ... Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located near the midpoint of Irelands east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. ... October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in Leap years). ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ...

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the INLA developed a modest organisation in the north of Ireland, particularly based around Divis Flats in West Belfast, which as a result became colloquially known as, "the planet of the Irps" (a reference to the IRSP and the film The Planet of the Apes). During this period, the INLA competed with the Provisional IRA for members, both groups attacking the British army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Belfast (Béal Feirste in Irish) is a city in the United Kingdom. ... Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) describes itself as a republican socialist party and claims to be both Marxist and Republican. ... Planet of the Apes is a novel by Pierre Boulle, originally published in French as La Planète des Singes and also translated as Monkey Planet (translator Xan Fielding). ... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) is a paramilitary group which aimed, through the use of violence, to achieve three goals: (i) British withdrawal from Ireland, (ii) the political unification of Ireland through the merger of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , and (iii) the creation of an all... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. ...

The first action to bring the INLA to international notice was its assassination on 30 May 1979 of Airey Neave, one of Margaret Thatcher’s closest political supporters. Other actions included the 1982 bombing of the Mount Gabriel radar station in County Cork, which was providing assistance to NATO, allegedly in violation of Irish neutrality; and the 6 December 1982 bombing of the Droppin' Well Bar in Ballykelly, County Derry, which catered to British military personnel, in which 11 soldiers and 6 civilians were killed. It emerged later at the trial that INLA members from Londonderry had carried out several reconnaissance missions "to see if there were enough soldiers to justify the possibility of civilian killings." May 30 is the 150th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (151st in leap years). ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... Airey Neave in his Nazi escape uniform. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925), is a British politician and a former barrister and chemist. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... County Cork (Contae Chorcaí in Irish) is the most southwesterly and the largest of the modern counties of Ireland. ... The NATO flag NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for collective security established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, D.C., on... Irish neutrality has been a policy of the Irish Free State and its successor the Republic of Ireland since independence from the United Kingdom in 1922. ... December 6 is the 340th day (341st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ballykelly (Baile Uí Cheallaigh) is a village 3 miles west of Limavady and contains some of the most interesting buildings erected in Ulster by the Plantation companies. ... For other places with similar names, see Londonderry (disambiguation) and Derry (disambiguation). ...

Members of the INLA participated in the 1980 and 1981 hunger strikes for the recognition of the political status of prisoners. Three INLA members died during the latter hunger strike - Patsy O'Hara, Kevin Lynch, and Michael Devine. In terms of prestige in Irish republicanism, this turned out to be the high water mark for the INLA.-1... Patsy OHara (11 July 1957 - 21 May 1981) was an Irish Republican hunger striker and member of the Irish National Liberation Army. ... Kevin Lynch (May 25, 1956 - 1 August 1981) was an Irish Republican hunger striker and member of the Irish National Liberation Army. ... Date Of Birth: 19/03/73 Height: 183 cm Weight: 86. ...

Feuds and Splits

On 20 November 1983, three members of the congregation in the Mountain Lodge Pentecostal Church, Darkley near Keady, County Armagh were shot dead during a Sunday service. The attack was claimed by the Catholic Reaction Force, a cover name for a small group of people, including one member of the INLA. The weapon used came from an INLA arms dump, but Tim Pat Coogan claims in his book The IRA that the weapon had been given to the INLA member to assassinate a known loyalist and the attack on the church was not sanctioned. The INLA's then chief of staff, Dominic McGlinchey, came out of hiding to condemn the attack. November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Pentecostal movement within Protestant Christianity places special emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. ... Keady is a large village in County Armagh in Northern Ireland, south of Armagh city and very close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. ... County Armagh (Contae Ard Mhacha in Irish) is a county in Ulster, Ireland. ... The Catholic Reaction Force is a cover name used by paramilitary groups to issued death threats against Protestants in Northern Ireland and claimed responsibility for murders since at least 1983. ... Timothy Patrick Coogan is an Irish historian, broadcaster, newspaper columnist and former editor of the Irish Press newspaper. ... Dominic McGlinchey was born in 1954 into a County Derry family with a strong Irish Republican background. ...

In the 1980s the INLA all but collapsed due to splits and criminality within its own ranks, as well as the conviction of many of its members under the British supergrass scheme. In 1987, the INLA and its political wing, the IRSP came under attack from the Irish People's Liberation Organisation (IPLO), an organisation founded by people who had resigned or been expelled from the INLA. The IPLO's sole purpose was to destroy the INLA. Five members of the INLA were killed by the IPLO. After the INLA killed the IPLO's leader, Gerard Steenson, a truce was reached. Although severely damaged by the IPLO's attacks, the INLA continued to exist. The IPLO, which was heavily involved in drug dealing, was put out of existence by the Provisional IRA in the early 1990s. The term supergrass is used in Northern Ireland to refer to arrested paramilitaries who divulged the identities of their compatriots to the Royal Ulster Constabulary in exchange for immunity from prosecution, essentially, an informer. ... The Irish Peoples Liberation Organisation was an Irish republican paramilitary organization which was formed in 1986 by disaffected and expelled members of the Irish National Liberation Army in the aftermath of the supergrass trials. ... Irish Republican Socialist paramilitary activist. ...

In 1995, four members of the INLA were arrested in Balbriggan while trying to smuggle weapons from Dublin to Belfast, including chief of staff Hugh Torney. Torney, with the support of two of his co-accused, called a ceasefire in exchange for favorable treatment by the Irish authorities. Since Torney lacked the authority to call a ceasefire, he and the two men who supported him were expelled from the INLA. 1995 (MCMXCV in Roman) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Balbriggan (Baile Brigín in Irish) is a town in County Fingal (historically County Dublin), in the Republic of Ireland. ... Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located near the midpoint of Irelands east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. ... Belfast (Béal Feirste in Irish) is a city in the United Kingdom. ... INLA member who was active in the defending the INLA and IRSP against the attacks by the IPLO which was comprised of former INLA members in the mid-80s. ... Government Buildings, Dublin The Government (Irish: Rialtas) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in the Republic of Ireland. ...

Torney and one of those men, Dessie McCleery, surrounded themselves with a gang of mercenaries and paid a North Belfast drug dealer to assassinate the new INLA chief of staff, Gino Gallagher. After the INLA executed both McCleery and Torney, the rest of Torney's gang quietly disbanded. Belfast (Béal Feirste in Irish) is a city in the United Kingdom. ... Gino Gallagher was an Irish republican who was Chief of Staff of the Irish National Liberation Army. ...

Recent Activities

In December 1997, three members of the INLA imprisoned in Long Kesh assassinated LVF leader Billy Wright, also known as "King Rat." 1997 (MCMXCVII in Roman) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... HM Prison Maze (known colloqually as The H Blocks, Long Kesh or The Maze) is a disused prison sited at the former RAF station at Long Kesh (it is still called Long Kesh by many Irish Republicans) near Lisburn, nine miles outside Belfast, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. ... The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) are an extremist Loyalist paramilitary grouping in Northern Ireland which broke away from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and was led by the late Billy Wright. ... Billy Wright (July 7, 1960 - December 27, 1997) was a Northern Irish terrorist, a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and leader of the extremist Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). ...

The INLA declared a ceasefire on August 22, 1998. Atlhough it does not support the Good Friday Agreement, it does not call for a return to armed struggle on behalf of republicans either. It maintains a presence in parts of Belfast and has carried out punishment beatings on alleged local petty criminals. August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was signed in Belfast on April 10, 1998 by the British and Irish Governments and endorsed by most Northern Ireland political parties. ...

The Independent Monitoring Commission which monitors paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland, claimed in its report of November 2004 that, the INLA is heavily involved in criminality, especially drugs trafficking. Irish journalist Paul Williams has also claimed the INLA, especially in Dublin, is now primarily a front for organised crime. The IRSP and INLA deny these allegations, arguing that no one has been simultaneously convicted of membership in the INLA and of drug offences. The IRSP and the INLA have both strongly denied any involvement with drug dealing, and stated that the INLA has threatened criminals which it claims have falsely used its name. The Independent Monitoring Commission is an organisation, founded on 7 January 2004, to promote peace and stability in Northern Ireland. ...

According to the Sutton database of deaths at the University of Ulster's CAIN project [1], the INLA was responsible for 113 deaths during the Troubles. Among its victims were 46 members of the British security forces, 42 civilians, 2 members of the Garda Síochána, 7 loyalist paramilitaries and 16 republican paramilitaries (including 10 of its own members). The University of Ulster (UU) is a multi-site university located in Northern Ireland and is the largest single university on the island of Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland. ... The Troubles is a term used to describe two periods of violence in Ireland during the twentieth century. ... A member of the motorcycle unit of the Garda Síochána. ...

Sources

• Henry McDonald, INLA - Deadly Divisions
• CAIN project [2]
• Tim Pat Coogan, The IRA
• The Starry Plough - IRSP newspaper, online at http://www.irsm.org/irsp/starryplough/