The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a terrorist organisation situated in Northern Ireland. The IRA was inspired by the example of the American War of Independence. The following is the background to the establishment of the organisation which was to become the IRA. The Irish volunteers - Oglaigh nahEireann in the Irish language - were established in November 1913 to "secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to all the people of Ireland-. In 1914 the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) was allowed to import arms which wasn't hindered by the British Crown forces; when the liberal government made plans to use the British army, if necessary, against the UVF senior officers striked and the Liberal government backed down. On the other hand when the volunteers imported a much smaller amount of arms they were attacked by the crown forces who shot dead civilians on the streets of Dublin. The aims of the IRA is that they don't want Britain to rule over North Ireland. North Ireland want to be one country with the Republic of Ireland. The IRA act in non democratic ways and have no respect for human rights.
The current strength of the IRA is about 400 hard-core activists and perhaps a similar number of second-line' activists who could be called on in a crisis. Most of the members are situated in Northern Ireland and are known as volunteers'. Although a smaller number are found in the Republic of Ireland. And some small cells in the UK. IRA cells have also operated from time to time in the USA and other overseas locations. Many of these volunteers may not be full-time but may work with other occupations. .
The Irish Republican Armies have very little foreign relations. Apart from shaky relations with the other terrorist countries such as Libya, the IRA does have a certain relationship with the USA. This is because many million Irish people live in the US and contribute with considerable amounts of money to the IRA.