The Ulster Workers' Council was a loyalist workers' organisation set up in Northern Ireland in 1974 as a more formalised successor to the Loyalist Association of Workers (LAW). It was formed by shipyard union leader Harry Murray and initially failed to gain much attention. However, with the full support of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) the UWC became the main mobilising force for loyalist opposition to power-sharing arrangements.
169-685: The group had been mooted in late 1973 when Harry Murray, a shop steward at Harland & Wolff , and other loyalist trade unionists had met at the Hawthornden Road headquarters of the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party (VPUP) to discuss setting up a more formal version of the LAW The formation of the group was announced in the April 1974 edition of Ulster Loyalist , a publication of the UDA, with
338-675: A Diplock court consisting of a single judge and no jury. The IRA rejected the authority of the courts in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and its standing orders did not allow volunteers on trial in a criminal court to enter a plea or recognise the authority of the court, doing so could lead to expulsion from the IRA. These orders were relaxed in 1976 due to sentences in the Republic of Ireland for IRA membership being increased from two years to seven years imprisonment. IRA prisoners in
507-504: A campaign in Northern Ireland in the 1940s , and the Border campaign of 1956–1962 . Following the failure of the Border campaign, internal debate took place regarding the future of the IRA. Chief-of-staff Cathal Goulding wanted the IRA to adopt a socialist agenda and become involved in politics, while traditional republicans such as Seán Mac Stíofáin wanted to increase recruitment and rebuild
676-514: A company as part of a battalion , which could be part of a brigade , such as the Belfast Brigade , Derry Brigade , South Armagh Brigade , and East Tyrone Brigade . In late 1973 the Belfast Brigade restructured, introducing clandestine cells named active service units , consisting of between four and ten members. Similar changes were made elsewhere in the IRA by 1977, moving away from
845-509: A front for the IRA and being involved in IRA gunrunning. The key IRA transatlantic gunrunning network was run by Irish immigrant and IRA veteran George Harrison , who estimated to have smuggled 2,000–2,500 weapons and approximately 1 million rounds of ammunition to Ireland. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Harrison for IRA arms smuggling in June 1981, thereby blocking
1014-577: A " private army ". The IRA saw the Irish War of Independence as a guerrilla war which accomplished some of its aims, with some remaining "unfinished business". An internal British Army document written by General Sir Mike Jackson and two other senior officers was released in 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act . It examined the British Army's 37 years of deployment in Northern Ireland, and described
1183-623: A " stalling tactic " by the British government. On 9 February 1996 a statement from the Army Council was delivered to the Irish national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann announcing the end of the ceasefire, and just over 90 minutes later the Docklands bombing killed two people and caused an estimated £100–150 million damage to some of London's more expensive commercial property . Three weeks later
1352-581: A 12-member Executive, which selected seven members, usually from within the Executive, to form the Army Council. Any vacancies on the Executive would then be filled by substitutes previously elected by the convention. For day-to-day purposes, authority was vested in the Army Council which, as well as directing policy and taking major tactical decisions, appointed a chief-of-staff from one of its number or, less often, from outside its ranks. The chief-of-staff would be assisted by an adjutant general as well as
1521-580: A British Army base in Germany. The IRA's first attack in Northern Ireland since the end of the ceasefire was not until October 1996, when the Thiepval barracks bombing killed a British soldier. In February 1997 an IRA sniper team killed Lance Bombadier Stephen Restorick, the last British soldier to be killed by the IRA. Following the May 1997 UK general election Major was replaced as prime minister by Tony Blair of
1690-405: A British delegation led by William Whitelaw . Mac Stíofáin made demands including British withdrawal, removal of the British Army from sensitive areas, and a release of republican prisoners and an amnesty for fugitives. The British refused and the talks broke up, and the IRA's ceasefire ended on 9 July. In late 1972 and early 1973 the IRA's leadership was being depleted by arrests on both sides of
1859-489: A General Headquarters (GHQ) staff, which consisted of a quartermaster general , and directors of finance, engineering, training, intelligence, publicity, operations, and security. GHQ's largest department, the quartermaster general's, accounted for approximately 20% of the IRA's personnel, and was responsible for acquiring weapons and smuggling them to Ireland where they would be hidden in arms dumps, and distributed them to IRA units as needed. The next most important department
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#17328516899212028-511: A bombing campaign in Northern Ireland and England against military, political and economic targets, and British military targets in mainland Europe. They also targeted civilian contractors to the British security forces. The IRA's armed campaign, primarily in Northern Ireland but also in England and mainland Europe, killed over 1,700 people, including roughly 1,000 members of the British security forces and 500–644 civilians. The Provisional IRA declared
2197-609: A change to the IRA's constitution in 1986. Before 1969 conventions met regularly, but owing to the difficulty in organising such a large gathering of an illegal organisation in secret, while the IRA's armed campaign was ongoing they were only held in September 1970, October 1986, and October or November 1996. After the 1997 ceasefire they were held more frequently, and are known to have been held in October 1997, May 1998, December 1998 or early 1999, and June 2002. The convention elected
2366-549: A final ceasefire in July 1997, after which its political wing Sinn Féin was admitted into multi-party peace talks on the future of Northern Ireland. These resulted in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement , and in 2005 the IRA formally ended its armed campaign and decommissioned its weapons under the supervision of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning . Several splinter groups have been formed as
2535-403: A flatter bottom and squarer cross section, which increased their capacity. Walter Henry Wilson became a partner of the company in 1874. When Harland died in 1895, William James Pirrie became the chairman of the company and remained so until his death in 1924. Thomas Andrews , Pirrie's nephew, became the general manager and head of the draughting department in 1907. It was in this period that
2704-404: A lasting peace without a public declaration by the British government of their intent to withdraw from Ireland. In August there was a gradual return to the armed campaign, and the truce effectively ended on 22 September when the IRA set off 22 bombs across Northern Ireland. The old guard leadership of Ó Brádaigh, Ó Conaill, and McKee were criticised by a younger generation of activists following
2873-562: A major escalation of the campaign in the late 1980s were cancelled after a ship carrying 150 tonnes of weapons donated by Libya was seized off the coast of France. The plans, modelled on the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War , relied on the element of surprise which was lost when the ship's captain informed French authorities of four earlier shipments of weapons, which allowed the British Army to deploy appropriate countermeasures . In 1987
3042-568: A one-mile radius of Belfast city centre. Premature explosions were another cause of civilian deaths, such as the Remembrance Day bombing which killed eleven people including ten civilians, and the Shankill Road bombing which killed ten people including eight civilians. The IRA was responsible for more deaths than any other organisation during the Troubles. Two detailed studies of deaths in
3211-438: A part-time element of the British Army, in order to try to contain the conflict inside Northern Ireland and reduce the number of British soldiers recruited from outside of Northern Ireland being killed. Normalisation involved the ending of internment without trial and Special Category Status , the latter had been introduced in 1972 following a hunger strike led by McKee. Criminalisation was designed to alter public perception of
3380-453: A partner in the company. Wolff was the nephew of Gustav Schwabe , Hamburg , who was heavily invested in the Bibby Line , and the first three ships that the newly incorporated shipyard built were for that line. Harland made a success of the business through several innovations, notably replacing the wooden upper decks with iron ones which increased the strength of the ships; and giving the hulls
3549-489: A peaceful political path and is not engaged in criminal activity nor directing violence. He pointed out, however, that some of its members have engaged in criminal activity or violence for their own, individual ends. The statement was made in response to the killings of former Belfast IRA commanders Kevin McGuigan and Gerard Davison . McGuigan was shot dead in what was believed to be a revenge killing by former IRA members over
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#17328516899213718-640: A pictorial book by McCluskie (1998). Records relating to the Govan yard of Harland & Wolff plc are maintained by the Archives of the University of Glasgow (GUAS) . See: List of ships built by Harland and Wolff 54°36′18″N 5°54′18″W / 54.605°N 5.905°W / 54.605; -5.905 Provisional Irish Republican Army Ulster loyalist paramilitaries The Provisional Irish Republican Army ( Provisional IRA ), officially known as
3887-563: A press conference was held at London's Downing Street by British prime minister John Major and the Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds . They delivered the Downing Street Declaration which conceded the right of Irish people to self-determination , but with separate referendums in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In January 1994 The Army Council voted to reject the declaration, while Sinn Féin asked
4056-410: A professor at Queen's University Belfast , writes that while the IRA's adherence to socialist goals has varied according to time and place, radical ideas, specifically socialist ones, were a key part of IRA thinking. Former IRA volunteer Tommy McKearney states that while the IRA's goal was a socialist republic, there was no coherent analysis or understanding of socialism itself, other than an idea that
4225-646: A rally in Ballymena by Superintendent John Hermon . With Paisley in custody and an increasing number of Protestants ignoring it the UUAC strike fell apart and before long led to a public spat between Paisley and Tyrie and the end of the relationship between the Democratic Unionist Party and the UDA. Having become associated with the failure the UWC faded from existence. Harry Murray became involved in an attempt to revive
4394-730: A result of splits within the IRA, including the Continuity IRA , which is still active in the dissident Irish republican campaign , and the Real IRA . The original IRA was formed in 1913 as the Irish Volunteers , at a time when all of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom . The Volunteers took part in the Easter Rising against British rule in 1916, and the War of Independence that followed
4563-648: A series of bridges in Britain and also in the Republic of Ireland , such as the James Joyce Bridge and the restoration of Dublin 's Ha'penny Bridge , building on the success of its first foray into the civil engineering sector with the construction of the Foyle Bridge in the 1980s. Harland & Wolff's last shipbuilding project was MV Anvil Point , one of six near identical Point-class sealift ships built for use by
4732-550: A split within the previous incarnation of the IRA and the broader Irish republican movement . It was initially the minority faction in the split compared to the Official IRA but became the dominant faction by 1972. The Troubles had begun shortly before when a largely Catholic, nonviolent civil rights campaign was met with violence from both Ulster loyalists and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), culminating in
4901-515: A two-thirds majority vote of delegates required to change the policy. The delegates that walked out reconvened at another venue where Mac Stíofáin, Ó Brádaigh and Mulcahy from the "Provisional" Army Council were elected to the Caretaker Executive of "Provisional" Sinn Féin. Despite the declared support of that faction of Sinn Féin, the early Provisional IRA avoided political activity, instead relying on physical force republicanism . £100,000
5070-541: A variety of handguns . As a result of black market arms deals and donations from sympathisers, the IRA obtained a large array of weapons such as surface-to-air missiles ; M60 machine guns ; ArmaLite AR-18 , FN FAL , AKM and M16 rifles ; DShK heavy machine guns; LPO-50 flamethrowers; and Barrett M90 sniper rifles. The IRA also used a variety of bombs during its armed campaign, such as car and truck bombs , time bombs , and booby traps , using explosives including ANFO and gelignite donated by IRA supporters in
5239-426: A variety of different firing mechanisms including delay timers, this combined with the disposable nature of the weapons allowed IRA volunteers to reduce the risk of being arrested at the scene. The IRA was mainly active in Northern Ireland, although it also attacked targets in England and mainland Europe, and limited activity also took place in the Republic of Ireland. The IRA's offensive campaign mainly targeted
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5408-727: A week later the IRA struck again in London with an assassination attempt on Lieutenant General Steuart Pringle , the Commandant General Royal Marines . Attacks on military targets in England continued with the Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings in July 1982, which killed eleven soldiers and injured over fifty people including civilians. In October 1984 they carried out the Brighton hotel bombing , an assassination attempt on British prime minister Margaret Thatcher , whom they blamed for
5577-664: Is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the White Star Line , including Olympic -class trio – RMS Olympic , RMS Titanic and HMHS Britannic . Outside of White Star Line, other ships that have been built include the Royal Navy 's HMS Belfast ; Royal Mail Line 's Andes ; Shaw, Savill & Albion 's Southern Cross ; Union-Castle 's RMS Pendennis Castle ; P&O 's Canberra ; and Hamburg-America 's SS Amerika of 1905. Harland and Wolff's official history, Shipbuilders to
5746-574: Is held at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum (UFTM). This has a photographic collection and a ships' plans collection (i.e., technical drawings). Around 8,000 prints of Harland & Wolff-built ships covering the period 1890-1945 are held in bound volumes in the UFTM's library. However the UFTM's collection of ships' plans is not currently available to the public nor is there a copy service. Selected early ship's plans (dating from 1860 to 1882) are reproduced in
5915-508: Is now known as the Titanic Quarter , and includes the £97 million Titanic Belfast visitor attraction. In recent years the company has seen its ship-related workload increase. While Harland & Wolff has had no recent involvement in shipbuilding projects, the company is increasingly involved in overhaul, re-fitting and ship repair, as well as the construction and repair of off-shore equipment such as oil platforms . On 1 February 2011 it
6084-533: Is still dominated today by Harland & Wolff's famous twin gantry cranes , Samson and Goliath , built in 1974 and 1969 respectively. In late 2007, the 'Goliath' gantry crane was re-commissioned, having been moth-balled in 2003 due to the lack of heavy-lifting work at the yard. In June 2008, assembly work at the Belfast yard was underway on 60 Vestas V90-3MW wind turbines for the Robin Rigg Wind Farm . This
6253-530: Is to help, enable and encourage ... Partition is an acknowledgement of reality, not an assertion of national self-interest. The IRA responded to Brooke's speech by declaring a three-day ceasefire over Christmas, the first in fifteen years. Afterwards the IRA intensified the bombing campaign in England, planting 36 bombs in 1991 and 57 in 1992, up from 15 in 1990. The Baltic Exchange bombing in April 1992 killed three people and caused an estimated £800 million worth of damage, £200 million more than
6422-684: The August 1969 riots and deployment of British soldiers . The IRA initially focused on defence of Catholic areas, but it began an offensive campaign in 1970 that was aided by external sources, including Irish diaspora communities within the Anglosphere , and the Palestine Liberation Organization and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi . It used guerrilla tactics against the British Army and RUC in both rural and urban areas, and carried out
6591-562: The Birmingham pub bombings . Following an IRA ceasefire over the Christmas period in 1974 and a further one in January 1975, on 8 February the IRA issued a statement suspending "offensive military action" from six o'clock the following day. A series of meetings took place between the IRA's leadership and British government representatives throughout the year, with the IRA being led to believe this
6760-696: The Declaration of Independence by the revolutionary parliament Dáil Éireann in 1919, during which they came to be known as the IRA. Ireland was partitioned into Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland by the Government of Ireland Act 1920 , and following the implementation of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922 Southern Ireland, renamed the Irish Free State , became a self-governing dominion while Northern Ireland chose to remain under home rule as part of
6929-507: The Geddes Committee recommended that the British government advance loans and subsidies to British shipyards to modernise production methods and shipyard infrastructure to preserve jobs. A major modernisation programme at the shipyard was undertaken, centred on the creation of a large construction graving dock serviced by two Krupp Goliath cranes, the iconic Samson and Goliath , enabling
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7098-575: The Irish Republican Army ( IRA ; Irish : Óglaigh na hÉireann ) and informally known as the Provos , was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland , facilitate Irish reunification and bring about an independent republic encompassing all of Ireland . It was the most active republican paramilitary group during the Troubles . It argued that
7267-550: The Labour Party . The new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam , had announced prior to the election she would be willing to include Sinn Féin in multi-party talks without prior decommissioning of weapons within two months of an IRA ceasefire. After the IRA declared a new ceasefire in July 1997, Sinn Féin was admitted into multi-party talks, which produced the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998. One aim of
7436-475: The Ministry of Defence . The ship, built under licence from German shipbuilders Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft , was launched in 2003. The company unsuccessfully tendered against Chantiers de l'Atlantique for the construction of Cunard line 's Queen Mary 2 . In 2003, Harland & Wolff's parent company sold 185 acres of surplus shipyard land and buildings to Harcourt Developments for £47 million. This
7605-589: The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) was formed by a diverse group of people, including IRA members and liberal unionists . Civil rights marches by NICRA and a similar organisation, People's Democracy , protesting against discrimination were met by counter-protests and violent clashes with loyalists , including the Ulster Protestant Volunteers , a paramilitary group led by Ian Paisley . Marches marking
7774-437: The Northern Ireland riots of August 1969 The riots resulted in 275 buildings being destroyed or requiring major repairs, 83.5% of them occupied by Catholics. A number of people were killed on both sides, some by the police, and the British Army were deployed to Northern Ireland . The IRA had been poorly armed and failed to properly defend Catholic areas from Protestant attacks, which had been considered one of its roles since
7943-525: The Orange Volunteers and Down Orange Welfare . Soon after its establishment the UWC established a thirteen-member co-ordinating committee under the chairmanship of Barr. This smaller group met once a fortnight at the VPUP headquarters. The group soon came to the attention of the government, and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Merlyn Rees held a meeting with its representatives on 8 April 1974. At
8112-541: The Provisional Irish Republican Army responded to what it saw as the British government's capitulation to the strike by launching a wave of attacks in mainland Britain in an attempt to demonstrate to the British government that they were a greater threat than striking loyalists. The UWC itself rapidly lost cohesion. As early as July 1974 Harry Murray was forced to resign from the UWC, after stating publicly that he would be happy to talk to representatives of
8281-635: The Royal Air Force . In the Second World War , this factory built Short Stirling bombers as the Hereford was removed from service. The shipyard was busy in the Second World War, building six aircraft carriers , two cruisers (including HMS Belfast ) and 131 other naval ships; and repairing over 22,000 vessels. It also manufactured tanks and artillery components. It was in this period that
8450-524: The Royal Fleet Auxiliary 's three new Fleet Solid Support vessels. Harland & Wolff was formed in 1861 by Edward James Harland (1831–1895) and Hamburg -born Gustav Wilhelm Wolff (1834–1913) who came to the UK aged 14. In 1858 Harland, then general manager, bought the small shipyard on Queen's Island from his employer Robert Hickson. After buying Hickson's shipyard, Harland made his assistant Wolff
8619-515: The Shankill Road with convoys of new police armoured land rovers. The strike descended into chaos with a series of setbacks, notably UDA gunman Kenny McClinton shooting and killing Protestant bus driver Harry Bradshaw on the Crumlin Road for his refusal to strike, an off-duty Ulster Defence Regiment soldier being killed by a bomb in the same area, UDA members William Hobbs and James McClurg accidentally immolating themselves whilst making petrol bombs in Rathcoole and Ian Paisley being arrested at
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#17328516899218788-514: The Ulster Volunteer Force , the Red Hand Commando , the Ulster Defence Association , the Provisional IRA, and Irish National Liberation Army ." But, it added, "the leaderships of the main paramilitary groups [including the IRA's] are committed to peaceful means to achieve their political objectives." In the early days of the Troubles the IRA was poorly armed: in Derry in early 1972 the IRA's weaponry consisted of six M1 carbines , two Thompson submachine guns , one or two M1 Garand rifles, and
8957-573: The 1920s. Veteran republicans were critical of Goulding and the IRA's Dublin leadership which, for political reasons, had refused to prepare for aggressive action in advance of the violence. On 24 August a group including Joe Cahill , Seamus Twomey , Dáithí Ó Conaill , Billy McKee , and Jimmy Steele came together in Belfast and decided to remove the pro-Goulding Belfast leadership of Billy McMillen and Jim Sullivan and return to traditional militant republicanism. On 22 September Twomey, McKee, and Steele were among sixteen armed IRA men who confronted
9126-514: The 1981 Irish hunger strike, when seven IRA and three Irish National Liberation Army members starved themselves to death in pursuit of political status. The hunger strike leader Bobby Sands and Anti H-Block activist Owen Carron were successively elected to the British House of Commons , and two other protesting prisoners were elected to Dáil Éireann. The electoral successes led to the IRA's armed campaign being pursued in parallel with increased electoral participation by Sinn Féin. This strategy
9295-404: The 32 county Irish republic, proclaimed at Easter 1916, established by the first Dáil Éireann in 1919, overthrown by force of arms in 1922 and suppressed to this day by the existing British-imposed six-county and twenty-six-county partition states ... We call on the Irish people at home and in exile for increased support towards defending our people in the North and the eventual achievement of
9464-444: The Army Council decided to adopt a three-stage strategy; defence of nationalist areas, followed by a combination of defence and retaliation, and finally launching a guerrilla campaign against the British Army. The Official IRA was opposed to such a campaign because they felt it would lead to sectarian conflict, which would defeat their strategy of uniting the workers from both sides of the sectarian divide. The Provisional IRA's strategy
9633-406: The Belfast leadership over the failure to adequately defend Catholic areas. A compromise was agreed where McMillen stayed in command, but he was not to have any communication with the IRA's Dublin based leadership. The IRA split into "Provisional" and "Official" factions in December 1969, after an IRA convention was held in Boyle, County Roscommon , Republic of Ireland. The two main issues at
9802-418: The Belfast yard completed its first new vessel since Anvil Point in 2003. It is a barge for the waste management company, Cory , the first of an order for 23 such craft. From 2025 the yard is expecting to complete the final assembly of three naval support ships for the Royal Navy as part of the Team Resolute Consortium. On 16 September 2024, it was reported that Harland & Wolff entered administration for
9971-525: The Belfast yard. The installation of the 1.2MW SeaGen Tidal System was begun in Strangford Lough in April 2008. In July 2010, Harland & Wolff secured a contract to make a prototype tidal energy turbine for Scotrenewables Ltd. Manufacture of the SR250 device was completed in May 2011 and has been undergoing testing in Orkney since. Since April 2012, the booming offshore wind power industry has taken centre stage. Harland & Wolff had been working on three innovative meteorological mast foundations for
10140-574: The British Army (including the UDR) and the RUC, with British soldiers being the IRA's preferred target. Other targets included British government officials, politicians, establishment and judicial figures, and senior British Army and police officers. The bombing campaign principally targeted political, economic and military targets, and was described by counter-terrorism expert Andy Oppenheimer as "the biggest terrorist bombing campaign in history". Economic targets included shops, restaurants, hotels, railway stations and other public buildings. The IRA
10309-413: The British Army killed fourteen unarmed civilians during an anti-internment march. Due to the deteriorating security situation in Northern Ireland the British government suspended the Northern Ireland parliament and imposed direct rule in March 1972. The suspension of the Northern Ireland parliament was a key objective of the IRA, in order to directly involve the British government in Northern Ireland, as
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#173285168992110478-424: The British and Irish governments issued a joint statement announcing multi-party talks would begin on 10 June, with Sinn Féin excluded unless the IRA called a new ceasefire. The IRA's campaign continued with the Manchester bombing on 15 June, which injured over 200 people and caused an estimated £400 million of damage to the city centre. Attacks were mostly in England apart from the Osnabrück mortar attack on
10647-421: The British government to clarify certain aspects of the declaration. The British government replied saying the declaration spoke for itself, and refused to meet with Sinn Féin unless the IRA called a ceasefire. On 31 August 1994 the IRA announced a "complete cessation of military operations" on the understanding that Sinn Féin would be included in political talks for a settlement. A new strategy known as "TUAS"
10816-547: The British government. The initial response to the strike was jubilation with large bonfires lit across loyalist areas of Northern Ireland, although before long cracks appeared. Publicly the political leaders Paisley, Craig and Harry West were able to claim the glory whilst the shop stewards returned to work anonymously and the paramilitary leaders faded into the background. Nonetheless the loyalist paramilitaries had decided that political activity might still be an avenue worth exploring, with both main groups declaring ceasefires and
10985-454: The Dogger Bank and Firth of Forth offshore wind farms, as well as putting the finishing touches to two Siemens substations for the Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm. Seventy-five per cent of the company's work was based on offshore renewable energy . Harland & Wolff was one of many UK and international companies profiting from the emergence of UK wind- and marine-generated electricity, which had been attracting significant inward investment. As
11154-488: The First World War. During the 1920s, Catholic workers, Socialists and labour activists were routinely expelled from their jobs in the shipyard: Similar actions had occurred in June 1898 and July, 1912. See The Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922) . The company started an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary with Short Brothers , called Short & Harland Limited in 1936. Its first order was for 189 Handley Page Hereford bombers built under licence from Handley Page for
11323-466: The H&W Belfast shipyard by focusing on smaller ships of up to 119 metres in the shipbuilding and ship repair market. In February 2021, InfraStrata acquired two BiFab yards, the £850,000 deal was struck for the Methil and Arnish yards, (but not the Burntisland facility). These Scottish facilities will trade under the Harland & Wolff brand. In September 2021, Infrastrata plc was renamed Harland & Wolff Group Holdings plc. In April 2023,
11492-455: The IRA and British government began in October 1990, with Sinn Féin being given an advance copy of a planned speech by Brooke. The speech was given in London the following month, with Brooke stating that the British government would not give in to violence but offering significant political change if violence stopped, ending his statement by saying: The British government has no selfish, strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland: Our role
11661-404: The IRA as "a professional, dedicated, highly skilled and resilient force", while loyalist paramilitaries and other republican groups were described as "little more than a collection of gangsters". It is unclear how many people joined the IRA during the Troubles, as it did not keep detailed records of personnel. Journalists Eamonn Mallie and Patrick Bishop state roughly 8,000 people passed through
11830-417: The IRA before, but had been radicalised by the violence that broke out in 1969. These people became known as "sixty niners", having joined after 1969. The IRA adopted the phoenix as the symbol of the Irish republican rebirth in 1969, one of its slogans was "out of the ashes rose the Provisionals", representing the IRA's resurrection from the ashes of burnt-out Catholic areas of Belfast. In January 1970,
11999-495: The IRA began attacking British military targets in mainland Europe, beginning with the Rheindahlen bombing , which was followed by approximately twenty other gun and bomb attacks aimed at British Armed Forces personnel and bases between 1988 and 1990. By the late 1980s the Troubles were at a military and political stalemate, with the IRA able to prevent the British government imposing a settlement but unable to force their objective of Irish reunification. Sinn Féin president Adams
12168-515: The IRA to become involved in sectarian killings, as well a feud with the Official IRA in October and November 1975 that left eleven people dead. Following the end of the ceasefire, the British government introduced a new three-part strategy to deal with the Troubles; the parts became known as Ulsterisation , normalisation, and criminalisation. Ulsterisation involved increasing the role of the locally recruited RUC and Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
12337-603: The IRA via intermediaries continued, with the British government arguing the IRA would be more likely to achieve its objective through politics than continued violence. The talks progressed slowly due to continued IRA violence, including the Warrington bombing in March 1993 which killed two children and the Bishopsgate bombing a month later which killed one person and caused an estimated £1 billion worth of damage. In December 1993
12506-462: The IRA wanted the conflict to be seen as one between Ireland and Britain. In May 1972 the Official IRA called a ceasefire, leaving the Provisional IRA as the sole active republican paramilitary organisation. New recruits saw the Official IRA as existing for the purpose of defence in contrast to the Provisional IRA as existing for the purpose of attack, increased recruitment and defections from
12675-413: The IRA was responsible for 1,781 deaths, about 47% of the total conflict deaths. Of these, 944 (about 53%) were members of the British security forces, while 644 (about 36%) were civilians (including 61 former members of the security forces). The civilian figure also includes civilians employed by British security forces, politicians, members of the judiciary, and alleged criminals and informers . Most of
12844-612: The IRA's arms supply from America. This forced the IRA to focus on importing weaponry from its already-established networks in Europe and the Middle East. In addition, Irish American support for the Republican cause began to weaken in the mid-1970s and gradually diminished in the 1980s due to bad publicity surrounding IRA atrocities and NORAID. By 1998, only $ 3.6 million were raised in America for
13013-496: The IRA, as they provided the British with propaganda coups and affected recruitment and funding. Despite this IRA bombs continued to kill civilians, generally due to IRA mistakes and incompetence or errors in communication. These included the Donegall Street bombing which killed seven people including four civilians, and Bloody Friday , when nine people, five of them civilians, were killed when twenty-two bombs were planted in
13182-529: The IRA. Irish Americans (both Irish immigrants and natives of Irish descent) also donated weapons and money. The financial backbone of IRA support in the United States was the Irish Northern Aid Committee ( NORAID ), founded by Irish immigrant and IRA veteran Michael Flannery . NORAID officially raised money for the families of IRA prisoners but was strongly accused by opponents of being
13351-457: The IRA. As a result of escalating violence, internment without trial was introduced by the Northern Ireland government on 9 August 1971, with 342 suspects arrested in the first twenty-four hours. Despite loyalist violence also increasing, all of those arrested were republicans, including political activists not associated with the IRA and student civil rights leaders. The one-sided nature of internment united all Catholics in opposition to
13520-515: The IRA. Following partition, Northern Ireland became a de facto one-party state governed by the Ulster Unionist Party in the Parliament of Northern Ireland , in which Catholics were viewed as second-class citizens . Protestants were given preference in jobs and housing, and local government constituencies were gerrymandered in places such as Derry . Policing was carried out by
13689-665: The Irish Republican cause, in which many historians and scholars agreed such an amount was too small to make an actual difference in the conflict. Irish Canadians , Irish Australians , and Irish New Zealanders were also active in supporting the Republican cause. More than A$ 20,000 were sent per year to the Provisionals from supporters in Australia by the 1990s. Canadian supporters did not just fundraise and import weapons, but also smuggled IRA and Sinn Féin members into
13858-418: The Irish border, with Mac Stíofáin, Ó Brádaigh and McGuinness all imprisoned for IRA membership. Due to the crisis the IRA bombed London in March 1973, as the Army Council believed bombs in England would have a greater impact on British public opinion. This was followed by an intense period of IRA activity in England that left forty-five people dead by the end of 1974, including twenty-one civilians killed in
14027-516: The Official IRA to the Provisional IRA led to the latter becoming the dominant organisation. On 22 June the IRA announced that a ceasefire would begin at midnight on 26 June, in anticipation of talks with the British government. Two days later Ó Brádaigh and Ó Conaill held a press conference in Dublin to announce the Éire Nua (New Ireland) policy, which advocated an all-Ireland federal republic, with devolved governments and parliaments for each of
14196-597: The PIRA if they ended their campaign of violence. Murray left loyalism altogether after this and by the following year was a candidate for the cross-community Alliance Party of Northern Ireland in a North Down Borough Council by-election. In 1977 a new body, the United Unionist Action Council (UUAC), was established bringing together representatives of the UDA, Down Orange Welfare, the Orange Volunteers and
14365-569: The Republic of Ireland and the plastic explosive Semtex donated by the Libyan government. The IRA's engineering department also manufactured a series of improvised mortars in the Republic of Ireland, which by the 1990s were built to a standard comparable to military models. The IRA's development of mortar tactics was a response to the heavy fortifications on RUC and British Army bases; as IRA mortars generally fired indirectly they were able to bypass some perimeter security measures. The mortars used
14534-493: The Republic of Ireland's police service, the Gardaí , have no evidence that the IRA's military structure remains operational or that the IRA is engaged in criminal activity. In August 2015, George Hamilton , the PSNI chief constable , stated that the IRA no longer exists as a paramilitary organisation. He added that some of its structure remains, but that the group is committed to following
14703-477: The South Armagh Brigade, which retained its traditional hierarchy and battalion structure. Only a handful of volunteers from the South Armagh Brigade were convicted of serious offences, and it had fewer arrests than any other area, meaning that the security forces struggled to recruit informers. Inactive Defunct The IRA's goal was an all-Ireland democratic socialist republic. Richard English ,
14872-583: The Tet Offensive could possibly be the key to victory against the British, pending on the arrival of weapons secured from Libya. However, this never came to pass, and the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 brought a dogmatic commitment to socialism back into question, as possible socialist allies in Eastern Europe wilted away. In the years that followed, IRA prisoners began to look towards South African politics and
15041-509: The Troubles, with the IRA's biggest loss of life in a single incident being the Loughgall ambush in 1987, when eight volunteers attempting to bomb a police station were killed by the British Army's Special Air Service . All levels of the organisation were entitled to send delegates to General Army Conventions. The convention was the IRA's supreme decision-making authority, and was supposed to meet every two years, or every four years following
15210-505: The Troubles, from an insurgency requiring a military solution to a criminal problem requiring a law enforcement solution. As result of the withdrawal of Special Category Status, in September 1976 IRA prisoner Kieran Nugent began the blanket protest in the Maze Prison , when hundreds of prisoners refused to wear prison uniforms. In 1977 the IRA evolved a new strategy which they called the "Long War", which would remain their strategy for
15379-548: The Troubles, the Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN), and the book Lost Lives , differ slightly on the numbers killed by the IRA and the total number of conflict deaths. According to CAIN, the IRA was responsible for 1,705 deaths, about 48% of the total conflict deaths. Of these, 1,009 (about 59%) were members or former members of the British security forces, while 508 (about 29%) were civilians. According to Lost Lives ,
15548-543: The UK and the Republic of Ireland were granted conditional early release as part of the Good Friday Agreement. IRA members were often refused travel visas to enter the United States, due to previous criminal convictions or because the Immigration and Nationality Act bars the entry of people who are members of an organisation which advocates the overthrow of a government by force. American TV news broadcasts used
15717-613: The UUAC did not have obvious demands and the strike did not have the support of the Ulster Unionist Party or the Vanguard and it also failed to convince electricity workers to support it, resulting in only limited disruption to power. Barr announced his public opposition to the strike, Harry West led counter demonstrations urging a return to work and Royal Ulster Constabulary Chief Constable Kenneth Newman , under instruction from new Secretary of State Roy Mason , took an aggressive line smashing through makeshift barricades set up on areas such as
15886-583: The UVF announcing the establishment of their own Volunteer Political Party . The British government took the strike as a sign that a solution could not be imposed, and that the people of Northern Ireland, or their representatives, had to find a solution for themselves. A white paper was published in July outlining plans for a Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention that would provide the Northern Irish with "a crucial part in determining their own future". Meanwhile,
16055-579: The UWC in 1982, albeit as a cross-community campaign group that would lobby for the creation of employment and for unity across the working class. This initiative did not take off however. Harland %26 Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding and fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast , Arnish , Appledore and Methil . It specialises in ship repair , shipbuilding and offshore construction . Harland & Wolff
16224-934: The Ulster Protestant celebration The Twelfth in July 1969 led to riots and violent clashes in Belfast , Derry and elsewhere. The following month a three-day riot began in the Catholic Bogside area of Derry, following a march by the Protestant Apprentice Boys of Derry . The Battle of the Bogside caused Catholics in Belfast to riot in solidarity with the Bogsiders and to try to prevent RUC reinforcements being sent to Derry, sparking retaliation by Protestant mobs. The subsequent arson attacks , damage to property and intimidation forced 1,505 Catholic families and 315 Protestant families to leave their homes in Belfast in
16393-658: The United Kingdom. The Treaty caused a split in the IRA, the pro-Treaty IRA were absorbed into the National Army , which defeated the anti-Treaty IRA in the Civil War . Subsequently, while denying the legitimacy of the Free State, the surviving elements of the anti-Treaty IRA focused on overthrowing the Northern Ireland state and the achievement of a united Ireland , carrying out a bombing campaign in England in 1939 and 1940 ,
16562-701: The United States, which, unlike Canada, enacted a visa ban on such members on the basis of advocating violence since the early 1970s. Gearóid Ó Faoleán wrote that "[i]n 1972, inclement weather forced a light aeroplane to reroute to Shannon Airport from Farranfore in County Kerry , where IRA volunteers had been awaiting its arrival. The plane, piloted by a Canadian [IRA supporter], had flown from Libya with at least one cargo of arms that included RPG-7 rocket launchers" where IRA smuggled these weapons into safe houses for its armed campaign. In 1974, seven Canadian residents (six who were originally from Belfast) were arrested by
16731-512: The World , was published in 1986. Today, the company is focused on supporting five sectors: Defence , Energy , Cruise & Ferry , Renewables and Commercial . It offers services including technical services, fabrication & construction, repair & maintenance, in-service support, conversion and decommissioning. In 2022, the company was awarded a major naval contract as part of Team Resolute (alongside Navantia UK and BMT ), to deliver
16900-519: The aftermath of the December 2004 Northern Bank robbery , the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Michael McDowell stated there could be no place in government in either Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland for a party that supported or threatened the use of violence, possessed explosives or firearms, and was involved in criminality. At the beginning of February 2005, the IRA declared that it
17069-591: The age-old Irish republican struggle". The IRA is a proscribed organisation in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act 2000 , and an unlawful organisation in the Republic of Ireland under the Offences Against the State Acts, where IRA volunteers are tried in the non-jury Special Criminal Court . A similar system was introduced in Northern Ireland by the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973 , with
17238-496: The agreement was that all paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland fully disarm by May 2000. The IRA began decommissioning in a process that was monitored by Canadian General John de Chastelain 's Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD), with some weapons being decommissioned on 23 October 2001 and 8 April 2002. The October 2001 decommissioning was the first time an Irish republican paramilitary organisation had voluntarily disposed of its arms. In October 2002
17407-424: The aircraft factory. With the rise of the jet-powered airliner in the late 1950s, the demand for ocean liners declined. This, coupled with competition from Japan , led to difficulties for the British shipbuilding industry. The last liner that the company launched was MV Arlanza for Royal Mail Line in 1960; the last liner completed was SS Canberra for P&O in 1961. In the 1960s, notable achievements for
17576-450: The all-island Irish Republic continued to exist, and it saw itself as that state's army, the sole legitimate successor to the original IRA from the Irish War of Independence . It was designated a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom and an unlawful organisation in the Republic of Ireland , both of whose authority it rejected. The Provisional IRA emerged in December 1969, due to
17745-409: The announcement promising that workers would be central to the political future of Northern Ireland and that these workers were preparing to mobilise against a united Ireland. From the outset most politicians were excluded from these meetings with the exception of VPUP leader William Craig and his party colleague David Trimble . The Ulster Workers' Council (UWC) name was adopted by February 1974 with
17914-771: The armed Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the B-Specials , both of which were almost exclusively Protestant. In the mid-1960s tension between the Catholic and Protestant communities was increasing. In 1966 Ireland celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising, prompting fears of a renewed IRA campaign. Feeling under threat, Protestants formed the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a paramilitary group which killed three people in May 1966, two of them Catholic men. In January 1967
18083-454: The bombing campaign would tie down British soldiers in static positions guarding potential targets, preventing their deployment in counter-insurgency operations. Loyalist paramilitaries, including the UVF, carried out campaigns aimed at thwarting the IRA's aspirations and maintaining the political union with Britain. Loyalist paramilitaries tended to target Catholics with no connection to the republican movement, seeking to undermine support for
18252-406: The business environment became increasingly competitive the yard began to have difficulty in generating enough business to meet overhead expenses. The yard was last profitable in 2015 and the following year it had an operating loss of £6 million. In 2018, the parent company Fred. Olsen & Co. restructured and decided to place Harland and Wolff up for sale. No buyer emerged and on 5 August 2019
18421-477: The ceasefire being declared. In March 1995 Mayhew set out three conditions for Sinn Féin being admitted to multi-party talks. Firstly the IRA had to be willing to agree to "disarm progressively", secondly a scheme for decommissioning had to be agreed, and finally some weapons had to be decommissioned prior to the talks beginning as a confidence building measure . The IRA responded with public statements in September calling decommissioning an "unreasonable demand" and
18590-407: The ceasefire if negotiations failed. The British government refused to admit Sinn Féin to multi-party talks before the IRA decommissioned its weapons , and a standoff began as the IRA refused to disarm before a final peace settlement had been agreed. The IRA regarded themselves as being undefeated and decommissioning as an act of surrender, and stated decommissioning had never been mentioned prior to
18759-404: The ceasefire, and their influence in the IRA slowly declined. The younger generation viewed the ceasefire as being disastrous for the IRA, causing the organisation irreparable damage and taking it close to being defeated. The Army Council was accused of falling into a trap that allowed the British breathing space and time to build up intelligence on the IRA, and McKee was criticised for allowing
18928-455: The company announced that they would cease trading and entered formal administration. Subsequently, on 1 October 2019, it was announced that the shipyard had been bought for £6 million by the London-based energy firm, InfraStrata. In August 2020, InfraStrata also bought the dormant Appledore shipyard for £7 million. The deal will see the shipyard renamed H&W Appledore complementing
19097-498: The company built Olympic and the two other ships in her class, Titanic and Britannic , between 1909 and 1914. It commissioned Sir William Arrol & Co. to construct a massive twin slipway and gantry structure for the project. In 1912, due primarily to increasing political instability in Ireland, the company acquired another shipyard at Govan in Glasgow , Scotland. It bought
19266-543: The company's workforce peaked at around 35,000 people. However, many of the vessels built in this era were commissioned right at the end of the Second World War, as Harland and Wolff were focused on ship repair in the first three years of the war. The yard on Queen's Island was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe in April and May 1941 during the Belfast Blitz , causing considerable damage to the shipbuilding facilities and destroying
19435-415: The convention were a resolution to enter into a "National Liberation Front" with radical left-wing groups, and a resolution to end abstentionism , which would allow participation in the British , Irish , and Northern Ireland parliaments. Traditional republicans refused to vote on the "National Liberation Front", and it was passed by twenty-nine votes to seven. The traditionalists argued strongly against
19604-567: The deaths of the ten hunger strikers. The bombing killed five members of the Conservative Party attending a party conference including MP Anthony Berry , with Thatcher narrowly escaping death. A planned escalation of the England bombing campaign in 1985 was prevented when six IRA volunteers, including Martina Anderson and the Brighton bomber Patrick Magee , were arrested in Glasgow. Plans for
19773-743: The details would be worked out following an IRA victory. This was in contrast to the Official IRA and the Irish National Liberation Army, both of which adopted clearly defined Marxist positions. Similarly, the Northern Ireland left-wing politician Eamonn McCann has remarked that the Provisional IRA was considered a non-socialist IRA compared to the Official IRA. During the 1980s, the IRA's commitment to socialism became more solidified as IRA prisoners began to engage with works of political and Marxist theory by authors such as Frantz Fanon , Che Guevara , Antonio Gramsci , Ho-Chi Minh , and General Giap . Members felt that an Irish version of
19942-578: The devolved Northern Ireland Assembly was suspended by the British government and direct rule returned, in order to prevent a unionist walkout. This was partly triggered by Stormontgate —allegations that republican spies were operating within the Parliament Buildings and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) —and the IRA temporarily broke off contact with de Chastelain. However, further decommissioning took place on 21 October 2003. In
20111-619: The early 1960s when the company opted to consolidate its operations in Belfast. In the First World War , Harland and Wolff built Abercrombie-class monitors and cruisers , including the 15-inch gun armed "large light cruiser" HMS Glorious . In 1918, the company opened a new shipyard on the eastern side of the Musgrave Channel which was named the East Yard. This yard specialised in mass-produced ships of standard design developed in
20280-567: The early 1960s, was demolished. The nationalised company was sold by the British government in 1989 to a management/employee buy-out in partnership with the Norwegian shipping magnate Fred Olsen ; this buy-out led to a new company called Harland & Wolff Holdings Plc . By this time, the number of people employed by the company had fallen to around 3,000. For the next few years, Harland & Wolff specialised in building standard Suezmax oil tankers , and has continued to concentrate on vessels for
20449-446: The end of the year there had been 153 explosions. The following year it was responsible for the vast majority of the 1,000 explosions that occurred in Northern Ireland. The strategic aim behind the bombings was to target businesses and commercial premises to deter investment and force the British government to pay compensation, increasing the financial cost of keeping Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. The IRA also believed that
20618-541: The ending of abstentionism, and the official minutes report the resolution passed by twenty-seven votes to twelve. Following the convention the traditionalists canvassed support throughout Ireland, with IRA director of intelligence Mac Stíofáin meeting the disaffected members of the IRA in Belfast. Shortly after, the traditionalists held a convention which elected a "Provisional" Army Council , composed of Mac Stíofáin, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh , Paddy Mulcahy, Sean Tracey, Leo Martin , Ó Conaill, and Cahill. The term provisional
20787-684: The example being set by the African National Congress . Many of the imprisoned IRA members saw parallels between their own struggle and that of Nelson Mandela and were encouraged by Mandela's use of compromise following his ascent to power in South Africa to consider compromise themselves. The Provisionals considered their campaign to be a continuation of events such as the Irish revolutionary period of 1916-1923, with IRA leader Ruairí Ó Brádaigh describing their campaign as "the current phase of
20956-494: The former London & Glasgow Engineering & Iron Shipbuilding Co's Middleton and Govan New shipyards in Govan and Mackie & Thomson's Govan Old Yard, which had been owned by William Beardmore and Company . The three neighbouring yards were amalgamated and redeveloped to provide a total of seven building berths, a fitting-out basin and extensive workshops. Harland & Wolff specialised in building tankers and cargo ships at Govan. The nearby shipyard of A. & J. Inglis , on
21125-535: The former Marconi shipyards on the Clyde and at Barrow-in-Furness thus rendering H&W's involvement surplus to requirements. Faced with competitive pressures, Harland & Wolff sought to shift and broaden their portfolio, focusing less on shipbuilding and more on design and structural engineering, as well as ship repair, offshore construction projects and competing for other projects to do with metal engineering and construction. This led to Harland and Wolff constructing
21294-488: The four historic provinces of Ireland . This was designed to deal with the fears of unionists over a united Ireland, an Ulster parliament with a narrow Protestant majority would provide them with protection for their interests. The British government held secret talks with the republican leadership on 7 July, with Mac Stíofáin, Ó Conaill, Ivor Bell , Twomey, Gerry Adams , and Martin McGuinness flying to England to meet
21463-400: The full political, social, economic and cultural freedom of Ireland. The Irish republican political party Sinn Féin split along the same lines on 11 January 1970 in Dublin, when a third of the delegates walked out of the party's highest deliberative body, the ard fheis , in protest at the party leadership's attempt to force through the ending of abstentionism, despite its failure to achieve
21632-463: The government, and riots broke out in protest across Northern Ireland. Twenty-two people were killed in the next three days, including six civilians killed by the British Army as part of the Ballymurphy massacre on 9 August, and in Belfast 7,000 Catholics and 2,000 Protestants were forced from their homes by the rioting. The introduction of internment dramatically increased the level of violence. In
21801-486: The group chaired by Glenn Barr , at the time a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the VPUP as well as a brigadier in the UDA. He was joined by the likes of Murray and Billy Kelly and Tom Beattie from Ballylumford power station . These were sometimes joined by Andy Tyrie on behalf of the UDA and Ken Gibson of the Ulster Volunteer Force , as well as representatives of smaller loyalist groups such as
21970-532: The initial knowledge of the Unionist politicians. On 13 May 1974 a large meeting of UWC-affiliated people was held at Portrush at which Billy Kelly, accompanied by Tyrie, UDA member Jim Smyth, and Short Brothers shop steward Hugh Petrie, announced to the assembled audience, which included Ernest Baird , Ian Paisley and John Taylor , that the general strike was to be launched the following day. The strike began on 15 May and continued to 29 May. Rather than conceding
22139-400: The larger conventional military organisational principle owing to its security vulnerability. The old structures were used for support activities such as policing nationalist areas, intelligence-gathering , and hiding weapons, while the bulk of attacks were carried out by active service units, using weapons controlled by the brigade's quartermaster . The exception to this reorganisation was
22308-429: The late 1980s the IRA had roughly 300 active volunteers and 450 more in support roles, while historian Richard English states in 1988 the IRA was believed to have no more than thirty experienced gunmen and bombers, with a further twenty volunteers with less experience and 500 more in support roles. Moloney estimates in October 1996 the IRA had between 600 and 700 active volunteers. Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi
22477-670: The local level, command of the "war-zone" was given to the Northern Command, which facilitated coordinated attacks across Northern Ireland and rapid alterations in tactics. Southern Command consisted of the Dublin Brigade and a number of smaller units in rural areas. Its main responsibilities were support activities for Northern Command, such as importation and storage of arms, providing safe houses , raising funds through robberies, and organising training camps . Another department attached to GHQ but separate from all other IRA structures
22646-499: The media that the IRA had not decommissioned all of its weaponry. In response to such claims, the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) stated in its 10th report that the IRA had decommissioned all weaponry under its control. The report stated that if any weapons had been kept they would have been kept by individuals and against IRA orders. In February 2015, Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan stated that
22815-485: The meeting the UWC demanded new elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly , which they dismissed as undemocratic. The meeting soon descended into angry scenes, with UWC members making allegations to Rees about the treatment of loyalist prisoners and negotiations with "terrorists" in Dublin , and the meeting ended inconclusively. The response of the UWC was to threaten a general strike, and pressed ahead for strike plans without
22984-538: The new elections that the UWC had initially demanded, the UK Government prorogued the Northern Ireland Assembly the following day. Rees interpreted the strike as Ulster nationalism , as it constituted open defiance of the British government by loyalists, and indeed some leaders, notably Barr, did support long-term Northern Ireland independence. However ultimately the issue did not enter into negotiations with
23153-745: The north bank of the Clyde and the east bank of the Kelvin, was also purchased by Harland & Wolff in 1919, along with the Meadowside shipyard of D. and W. Henderson and Company , on the north bank of the Clyde but on the west bank of the Kelvin. The company also bought a stake in the company's primary steel supplier, David Colville & Sons . Harland & Wolff also established shipyards at Bootle in Liverpool , North Woolwich in London and Southampton . However, these shipyards were all eventually closed, beginning in
23322-463: The offshore oil and gas industry. It has made some forays outside this market. In the late 1990s, the yard was part of the then British Aerospace team for the Royal Navy 's Future Carrier (CVF) programme. It was envisaged that the ship would be assembled at the Harland & Wolff dry-dock in Belfast. In 1999, BAE merged with Marconi Electronic Systems . The new company, BAE Systems Marine , included
23491-522: The pre-1969 IRA, considering both British rule in Northern Ireland and the government of the Republic of Ireland to be illegitimate, and the Army Council to be the provisional government of the all-island Irish Republic . This belief was based on a series of perceived political inheritances which constructed a legal continuity from the Second Dáil of 1921–1922. The IRA recruited many young nationalists from Northern Ireland who had not been involved in
23660-491: The process of disarmament as quickly as possible. The IRA invited two independent witnesses to view the secret disarmament work, Catholic priest Father Alec Reid and Protestant minister Reverend Harold Good . On 26 September 2005, the IICD announced that "the totality of the IRA's arsenal" had been decommissioned. Jane's Information Group estimated that the IRA weaponry decommissioned in September 2005 included: Having compared
23829-522: The propaganda war and is the public and political voice of the movement". The 1977 edition of the Green Book , an induction and training manual used by the IRA, describes the strategy of the "Long War" in these terms: The "Long War" saw the IRA's tactics move away from the large bombing campaigns of the early 1970s, in favour of more attacks on members of the security forces. The IRA's new multi-faceted strategy saw them begin to use armed propaganda , using
23998-468: The publicity gained from attacks such as the assassination of Lord Mountbatten and the Warrenpoint ambush to focus attention on the nationalist community's rejection of British rule. The IRA aimed to keep Northern Ireland unstable, which would frustrate the British objective of installing a power sharing government as a solution to the Troubles. The prison protest against criminalisation culminated in
24167-453: The ranks of the IRA in the first 20 years of its existence, many of them leaving after arrest, retirement or disillusionment. McGuinness, who held a variety of leadership positions, estimated a total membership of 10,000 over the course of the Troubles. The British Army estimates the IRA had 500 volunteers in July 1971, 130 in Derry and 340 in Belfast, journalist Ed Moloney states by the end of
24336-546: The remainder were loyalist or republican paramilitary members, including over 100 IRA members accidentally killed by their own bombs or shot for being security force agents or informers. Overall, the IRA was responsible for 87–90% of the total British security force deaths, and 27–30% of the total civilian deaths. During the IRA's campaign in England it was responsible for at least 488 incidents causing 2,134 injuries and 115 deaths, including 56 civilians and 42 British soldiers. Between 275 and 300 IRA members were killed during
24505-421: The remnants of the UWC under the chairmanship of Joseph Burns and with the support of Paisley and Baird, who was leading his own United Ulster Unionist Party by this point. A vigilante group called the Ulster Service Corps was organised by this group. In May 1977 this group convinced the UWC to lead a second strike in an attempt to replicate the success of three years earlier. This time however, unlike in 1974,
24674-420: The rest of the Troubles. This strategy accepted that their campaign would last many years before being successful, and included increased emphasis on political activity through Sinn Féin. A republican document of the early 1980s states "Both Sinn Féin and the IRA play different but converging roles in the war of national liberation. The Irish Republican Army wages an armed campaign ... Sinn Féin maintains
24843-461: The second time in 5 years. The company is expected to continue operations normally, while its non-core operations will wind down. A collection of Harland & Wolff papers are held at Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). The Harland & Wolff archive in PRONI comprises c.2,000 files, c.200 volumes and c.16,000 documents, 1861–1987, documenting most aspects of the history of Belfast's famous shipbuilding firm. A further major archive
25012-454: The seven months prior to internment 34 people had been killed, 140 people were killed between the introduction of internment and the end of the year, including thirty soldiers and eleven RUC officers. Internment boosted IRA recruitment, and in Dublin the Taoiseach , Jack Lynch , abandoned a planned idea to introduce internment in the Republic of Ireland. IRA recruitment further increased after Bloody Sunday in Derry on 30 January 1972, when
25181-462: The shipyard to build much larger post-war merchant ships, including one of 333,000 tonnes. The shipyard had a long-standing reputation as a Protestant closed shop, and in 1970, during the Troubles , 500 Catholic workers were expelled from their role. Continuing financial problems led to the company's nationalisation , though not as part of British Shipbuilders , in 1977. In 1971, the Arrol Gantry complex, within which many ships were built until
25350-437: The shooting death three months earlier of Davison. The Chief Constable stated there was no evidence that the killing of McGuigan was sanctioned by the IRA leadership. Also in response, the British government commissioned the Assessment on Paramilitary Groups in Northern Ireland . The assessment, concluded in October 2015, was that "all the main paramilitary groups operating during the Troubles are still in existence, including
25519-505: The terms "activists", "guerrillas", and "terrorists" to describe IRA members, while British TV news broadcasts commonly used the term "terrorists", particularly the BBC as part of its editorial guidelines published in 1989. Republicans reject the label of terrorism, instead describing the IRA's activity as war, military activity, armed struggle or armed resistance. The IRA prefer the terms freedom fighter , soldier, activist , or volunteer for its members. The IRA has also been described as
25688-413: The total damage caused by the Troubles in Northern Ireland up to that point. In December 1992 Patrick Mayhew , who had succeeded Brooke as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, gave a speech directed at the IRA in Coleraine , stating that while Irish reunification could be achieved by negotiation, the British government would not give in to violence. The secret talks between the British government and
25857-413: The weapons decommissioned with the British and Irish security forces' estimates of the IRA's arsenal, and because of the IRA's full involvement in the process of decommissioning the weapons, the IICD concluded that all IRA weaponry had been decommissioned. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain , said he accepted the conclusion of the IICD. Since then, there have been occasional claims in
26026-410: The yard included the tanker Myrina , which was the first supertanker built in the UK and the largest vessel ever launched down a slipway, as it was in September 1967. In the same period the yard also built the semi-submersible drilling rig Sea Quest which, due to its three-legged design, was launched down three parallel slipways. This was a first and only time this was ever done. In the mid-1960s,
26195-444: The year the IRA in Belfast had over 1,200 volunteers. After the late 1970s restructure, the British Army estimated the IRA had 500 full-time volunteers. A 1978 British Army report by Brigadier James Glover stated that the restructured IRA did not require the same number of volunteers as the early 1970s, and that a small number of volunteers could "maintain a disproportionate level of violence". Journalist Brendan O'Brien states by
26364-494: Was a supplier of arms to the IRA, donating two shipments of arms in the early 1970s, and another five in the mid-1980s. The final shipment in 1987 was intercepted by French authorities, but the prior four shipments included 1,200 AKM assault rifles , 26 DShK heavy machine guns , 40 general-purpose machine guns , 33 RPG-7 rocket launchers, 10 SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles, 10 LPO-50 flamethrowers, and over two tonnes of plastic explosive Semtex. He also gave $ 12 million in cash to
26533-483: Was announced that Harland & Wolff had won the contract to refurbish SS Nomadic , effectively rekindling its nearly 150-year association with the White Star Line. Structural steel work on the ship began on 10 February 2011 and was completed in time for the 2012 Belfast Titanic Festival. In July 2012 Harland & Wolff was to carry out the dry docking and service of the Husky Oil SeaRose FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading) vessel. Belfast's skyline
26702-409: Was blamed for the Abercorn Restaurant bombing in March 1972, when a bomb exploded without warning killing two women and injuring many people. Due to negative publicity after the Abercorn bombing, the IRA introduced a system of telephoned coded warnings to try to avoid civilian casualties while still causing the intended damage to properties and the economy. Civilian deaths were counter-productive to
26871-434: Was chosen to mirror the 1916 Provisional Government of the Irish Republic , and also to designate it as temporary pending ratification by a further IRA convention. Nine out of thirteen IRA units in Belfast sided with the "Provisional" Army Council in December 1969, roughly 120 activists and 500 supporters. The Provisional IRA issued their first public statement on 28 December 1969, stating: We declare our allegiance to
27040-408: Was donated by the Fianna Fáil -led Irish government in 1969 to the Central Citizens Defence Committee in Catholic areas, some of which ended up in the hands of the IRA. This resulted in the 1970 Arms Crisis where criminal charges were pursued against two former government ministers and others including John Kelly , an IRA volunteer from Belfast. The Provisional IRA maintained the principles of
27209-433: Was engineering, which manufactured improvised explosive devices and improvised mortars. Below GHQ, the IRA was divided into a Northern Command and a Southern Command. Northern Command operated in Northern Ireland as well as the border counties of Donegal , Leitrim , Cavan , Monaghan , and Louth , while Southern Command operated in the remainder of Ireland. In 1977, parallel to the introduction of cell structures at
27378-455: Was in contact with Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader John Hume and a delegation representing the Irish government, in order to find political alternatives to the IRA's campaign. As a result of the republican leadership appearing interested in peace, British policy shifted when Peter Brooke , the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland , began to engage with them hoping for a political settlement. Backchannel diplomacy between
27547-522: Was known as the "Armalite and ballot box strategy", named after Danny Morrison 's speech at the 1981 Sinn Féin ard fheis: Who here really believes that we can win the war through the ballot box? But will anyone here object if with a ballot paper in this hand and an Armalite in this hand we take power in Ireland? Attacks on high-profile political and military targets remained a priority for the IRA. The Chelsea Barracks bombing in London in October 1981 killed two civilians and injured twenty-three soldiers;
27716-471: Was revealed to the IRA's rank-and-file following the ceasefire, described as either "Tactical Use of Armed Struggle" to the Irish republican movement or "Totally Unarmed Strategy" to the broader Irish nationalist movement. The strategy involved a coalition including Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Irish government acting in concert to apply leverage to the British government, with the IRA's armed campaign starting and stopping as necessary, and an option to call off
27885-414: Was the England department, responsible for the bombing campaign in England. The IRA referred to its ordinary members as volunteers (or óglaigh in Irish), to reflect the IRA being an irregular army which people were not forced to join and could leave at any time. Until the late 1970s, IRA volunteers were organised in units based on conventional military structures. Volunteers living in one area formed
28054-408: Was the second offshore wind farm assembled by the company for Vestas having completed the logistics for the Barrow Offshore Wind Farm in 2006. In August 2011 Harland and Wolff completed the logistics for the Ormonde Wind Farm which consisted of 30 REpower 5MW turbines. In March 2008, the construction of the world's first commercial tidal stream turbine, for Marine Current Turbines, was completed at
28223-416: Was the start of a process of British withdrawal. Occasional IRA violence occurred during the ceasefire, with bombs in Belfast, Derry, and South Armagh. The IRA was also involved in tit for tat sectarian killings of Protestant civilians, in retaliation for sectarian killings by loyalist paramilitaries. By July the Army Council was concerned at the progress of the talks, concluding there was no prospect of
28392-443: Was to use force to cause the collapse of the Northern Ireland government and to inflict such heavy casualties on the British Army that the British government would be forced by public opinion to withdraw from Ireland. Mac Stíofáin decided they would "escalate, escalate and escalate", in what the British Army would later describe as a "classic insurgency ". In October 1970 the IRA began a bombing campaign against economic targets; by
28561-496: Was withdrawing a decommissioning offer from late 2004. This followed a demand from the Democratic Unionist Party , under Paisley, insisting on photographic evidence of decommissioning. On 28 July 2005, the IRA, with a statement read to the media by Séanna Walsh , declared an end to the armed campaign, affirming that it would work to achieve its aims solely through peaceful political means and ordering volunteers to end all paramilitary activity. The IRA also stated it would complete
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