Provisional IRA arms importation
Encyclopedia
The Provisional Irish Republican Army
began importing large quantities of weapons and ammunition into the Republic of Ireland
for use in Northern Ireland
in the early 1970s. With these weapons it conducted an armed campaign against the British presence in Northern Ireland.
between 1956 and 1962, but these weapons were outdated and unsuitable for a modern campaign.
After 1969, and the split with the Official IRA
, the IRA gained control over a majority of the stockpiled weaponry still held from previous IRA campaigns. They found that the stockpiles consisted mostly of World War II
small arms ranging from Lee Enfield & M1 Garand rifles, to MP40
& Thompson submachine gun
s (SMG), plus Bren
light machine guns (LMG) and Webley
revolvers.
To continue and escalate their armed campaign, the IRA needed to be better equipped, which meant securing modern small arms. In previous campaigns weapons had been secured before hostilities commenced via raids on British Army
and even Irish Army
weapons depots. In the 1969–1971 period this was no longer feasible. By 1972, the IRA had large quantities of modern small arms, particularly Armalite
rifles, manufactured and purchased in the United States. The AR-18
rifle in particular was found to be very well suited to the Provisionals' purposes as its small size and folding stock meant that it was easy to conceal. Moreover, it was capable of rapid fire and fired a high velocity round which provided great "stopping power
".
The IRA's main gun runner in the USA was George Harrison
, an IRA veteran, resident in New York
since 1938. Harrison bought guns for the IRA from a Corsican arms dealer named George de Meo
, who had connections in organised crime. Joe Cahill
acted as the contact between NORAID
and Harrison. In 1971, the Royal Ulster Constabulary
(RUC) had already seized 700 modern weapons from the IRA, including 2 tonnes of high explosive and 157,000 rounds of ammunition, most of which were US made.
Harrison spent an estimated US$1 million in the 1970s purchasing over 2,500 guns for the IRA. According to Brendan Hughes
, an IRA member who later became Officer Commanding
of the IRA inside Long Kesh prison, the IRA smuggled small arms from America by sea on the Queen Elizabeth II
from New York
via Southampton
, through Irish members of her crew, until the network was cracked down by the FBI in the 1980s. These Queen Elizabeth II shipments included M16
, CAR-15
, AR-18
and AR-15
Armalite
assault rifles, accompanied by Browning
pistols and Smith & Wesson
pistols and revolvers and were driven from Southampton to Belfast
in small consignments.
In the late 1970s, another IRA member, Gabriel Megahey, was sent to America to acquire more arms and he was able to procure more AR-15 Armalites, plus a number of Heckler & Koch
rifles and other weapons. Again, the purchase of these weapons was funded by Irish American republicans. A batch of M60 machine guns was imported in 1977.
Harrison was arrested by the FBI in 1981, but acquitted at his trial. Megahey was arrested by the FBI in 1982 after a successful "sting operation
", where he was trying to purchase surface-to-air missile
s (SAMs) for the IRA, and sentenced to seven years in prison.
In 1984, the FBI warned Ireland that a major IRA arms shipment was underway from the U.S., and that the weaponry would be transferred to an Irish fishing trawler in the Atlantic. Subsequently, Irish authorities discovered that arms ship was a vessel named Marita Ann, allegedly after a tip off Sean O'Callaghan
, an IRA informant for Garda Síochána
(Irish police). Three Irish Naval Service
ships confronted the vessel off the coast of County Kerry
, and prevented its escape by firing warning shots. A team of naval personnel and Garda officers boarded the ship, arresting the crew of five and confiscating seven tons of military equipment, as well as medications, training manuals, and communications equipment.
, whose leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi
, sympathised with their campaign. The first Libyan arms donation to the IRA occurred in 1972–1973, following visits by Joe Cahill
to Libya. In early 1973, the Government of the Republic of Ireland
received intelligence that the vessel Claudia was carrying a shipment of weapons, and placed the ship under surveillance on 27 March. On 28 March, three Irish Naval Service patrol vessels intercepted the Claudia in Irish territorial waters near Helvick Head, County Waterford
, seizing five tonnes of Libyan arms and ammunition found on board. The weapons seized included 250 Soviet-made small arms, 240 rifles, anti-tank mines and other explosives. Cahill was found and arrested on board. It is estimated that three shipments of weapons of similar size and makeup did get through to the IRA during the same time period. Moloney reports that the early Libyan arms shipments furnished the IRA with its first RPG-7
rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and that Gaddafi also donated three to five million US dollars at this time. However contact with the Libyan
government was broken off in 1976.
Contact with Libya was restored in the aftermath of the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike
, which was said to have impressed Gadaffi. In the 1980s, the IRA secured larger quantities of weapons and explosives from Gaddafi's Libya — enough to supply at least two infantry battalions. These shipments were as a direct result of Gaddafi's desire to strike at the British Government for their support and assistance during the US Air Force's bombing attacks on Tripoli and Benghazi in 1986
. The USAF planes involved in the bombings had taken off from British bases on 14 April 1986. 60 Libyans died in the attack. This second major Libyan contribution to the IRA came in 1986–1987. The arms shipments included:
However, on 1 November 1987, during transit to Ireland, one-third of the total Libyan arms consignment being carried aboard the MV Eksund (sometimes referred to simply as Eksund) was intercepted by the French Navy
while the ship was in the Bay of Biscay
, along with five crew members, among them Gabriel Cleary
. The vessel was found to contain 120 tonnes of weapons, including HMGs, 36 RPGs, 1000 detonators, 20 SAMs, Semtex and 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition. Author Ed Moloney
claimed that the Eksund shipment also contained military mortars and 106 millimetre cannon
, an assertion never confirmed by the Irish authorities. Despite the Eksund fiasco, the IRA was by then equipped with a quantity and quality of weaponry and explosives never available to them at any other phase of their history. Furthermore, according to Brendan O'Brien there was actually an 'over-supply', specially regarding the 600 AK-47s still in the hands of the IRA by 1992. There were four shipments before the Eksund which were not intercepted, in a huge intelligence failure of both Irish and British agencies described as 'calamitous' by author Brendan O'Brien. The previous arm supplies from Libya developed as follows:
It is also estimated that the Libyan government gave the IRA the equivalent of £2 million along with the 1980s shipments.
Garda Síochána
(Irish police) uncovered numerous arms destined for the IRA in 1988. These included several hundred AK-47s, Russian DSHK HMGs, FN MAG machine guns and Semtex.
As well as these major sources of arms, the IRA has also bought weapons on a smaller scale from various arms dealers in continental Europe. In the 1970s, some guns were purchased by Dáithí Ó Conaill
in Czechoslovakia
and in the 1980s, Belgian FN FNC
rifles were obtained, probably smuggled through the Netherlands
. There was contact between the IRA and the PLO starting from the mid-70's which included the training of IRA volunteers. At one stage the PLO offered weapons and training to the IRA, but they declined on the grounds that it was impossible to smuggle arms out of the Middle East without alerting Israel
i intelligence. Tim Pat Coogan
wrote that assistance from the PLO largely dried up in the mid 1980's after the PLO had forged stronger links with the government of the Republic of Ireland
. AK4 rifles from Norway
and Sweden
were also secretly obtained.
imported a number of high velocity Barrett Light 50 and Barrett Model 90
sniper rifles from the United States. These weapons were used by two Armagh ASUs to conduct a sniping campaign
against British Army patrols operating in the area. The last British soldier killed in Northern Ireland during The Troubles
, Stephen Restorick, was shot dead with a Barrett rifle in 1997. Soon after, the leader of one of the Armagh sniper squads, Michael Caraher, was captured and a Barrett rifle recovered.
Despite their ceasefires of 1994 and 1997 the IRA continued to buy arms. They needed a new source of weapons, since the Libyan
pipeline had been closed. In May 1996, the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's internal security service, publicly accused Estonia of arms smuggling, and claimed that the IRA had contacted representatives of Estonia's volunteer defense force, Kaitseliit, and some non-government groups to buy weapons. However he did not say when the contacts had taken place. In July 1999, three men, Anthony Smyth, Conor Claxton, and Martin Mullan, along with an accomplice, Siobhan Browne, were arrested by the American FBI
and ATF
agencies and accused of buying 44 handguns from arms dealers in Florida
in the United States
and posting 15 of the weapons to Ireland and the United Kingdom. Later estimates put the number of guns sent to Ireland at more than 100 pistols and machine-pistols. All three men were cleared of conspiracy to aid terrorists and to commit murder. They were later sentenced on the less serious smuggling charge. The IRA leadership denied knowledge of the arms buys.
), to have been destroyed as part of this process were:
The panel overseeing the decommissioning of IRA weaponry and weapons stockpiles, the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
(IICD) headed by General de Chastelain
oversaw the decommissioning process. The decommissioning process has taken place using estimates of IRA weaponry submitted by the British and Irish Governments. General de Chastelain said he had seen rifles, particularly AK-47s, machine guns, ground-to-air missiles, explosives, explosive material, mortars, flame throwers, hand guns, timer units and ballistic caps, and some weaponry that was "very old", including a Bren machine gun.
The IICD's final report was issued on 26 September 2005 and the panel stated to the press:
and while they could not report on the quantity or types of weapons destroyed they said:
Irish Taoiseach
(Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern
also stated at the time:
However despite the conclusion of the IICD agreeing with the figures provided by the British security forces, unnamed sources in MI5
and the PSNI
have reported to the press that not all IRA arms were destroyed during the process, a claim which so far remains unsubstantiated. These reports have since been scotched by the group overseeing the activities of paramilitaries in Northern Ireland — the Independent Monitoring Commission
(IMC). In its latest report, dated April 2006, the IMC points out that it has no reason to disbelieve the IRA or information to suspect that the group has not fully decommissioned. Rather, it indicated that any weaponry that had not been handed in had been retained by individuals outside the IRA's control. Excerpt from the IMC's 10th report:
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
began importing large quantities of weapons and ammunition into the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
for use in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
in the early 1970s. With these weapons it conducted an armed campaign against the British presence in Northern Ireland.
American arms
In the early stages of the Troubles, during the period 1969–1971, the Provisional IRA (IRA) was poorly armed. They had access to weapons remaining from the IRA's failed Border CampaignBorder Campaign (IRA)
The Border Campaign was a campaign of guerrilla warfare carried out by the Irish Republican Army against targets in Northern Ireland, with the aim of overthrowing British rule there and creating a united Ireland.Popularly referred to as the Border Campaign, it was also referred to as the...
between 1956 and 1962, but these weapons were outdated and unsuitable for a modern campaign.
After 1969, and the split with the Official IRA
Official IRA
The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA is an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to create a "32-county workers' republic" in Ireland. It emerged from a split in the Irish Republican Army in December 1969, shortly after the beginning of "The Troubles"...
, the IRA gained control over a majority of the stockpiled weaponry still held from previous IRA campaigns. They found that the stockpiles consisted mostly of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
small arms ranging from Lee Enfield & M1 Garand rifles, to MP40
MP40
The MP 38 and MP 40 , often called Schmeisser, were submachine guns developed in Nazi Germany and used extensively by paratroopers, tank crews, platoon and squad leaders, and other troops during World War II.-Development:The MP 40 descended from its predecessor, the MP 38, which was in turn based...
& Thompson submachine gun
Thompson submachine gun
The Thompson is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1919, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals...
s (SMG), plus Bren
Bren
The Bren, usually called the Bren Gun, was a series of light machine guns adopted by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1991...
light machine guns (LMG) and Webley
Webley
Webley Inc. is a company providing speech-driven unified communications solutions.Webley is privately held and headquartered in Bannockburn, IL....
revolvers.
To continue and escalate their armed campaign, the IRA needed to be better equipped, which meant securing modern small arms. In previous campaigns weapons had been secured before hostilities commenced via raids on British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and even Irish Army
Irish Army
The Irish Army, officially named simply the Army is the main branch of the Defence Forces of Ireland. Approximately 8,500 men and women serve in the Irish Army, divided into three infantry Brigades...
weapons depots. In the 1969–1971 period this was no longer feasible. By 1972, the IRA had large quantities of modern small arms, particularly Armalite
ArmaLite
ArmaLite is the name of a small arms engineering facility founded in the early 1950s, and once associated with the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation. ArmaLite was formally incorporated as a subdivision of Fairchild on October 1, 1954...
rifles, manufactured and purchased in the United States. The AR-18
AR-18
The AR-18 is a gas operated, selective fire assault rifle chambered for 5.56x45mm ammunition. The AR-18 was designed at ArmaLite in California by Arthur Miller, George Sullivan, and Charles Dorchester in 1963 as an improved alternative to the AR-15 design, which had just been selected by the U.S....
rifle in particular was found to be very well suited to the Provisionals' purposes as its small size and folding stock meant that it was easy to conceal. Moreover, it was capable of rapid fire and fired a high velocity round which provided great "stopping power
Stopping power
Stopping power is a colloquial term used to describe the ability of a firearm or other weapon to cause a penetrating ballistic injury to a target, human or animal, sufficient to incapacitate the target where it stands....
".
The IRA's main gun runner in the USA was George Harrison
George Harrison (Irish Republican)
George Harrison was a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.Born in Shammer, Kilkelly, County Mayo, in western Ireland, Harrison emigrated to the United States to facilitate arms transfers to the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland...
, an IRA veteran, resident in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
since 1938. Harrison bought guns for the IRA from a Corsican arms dealer named George de Meo
George de Meo
George de Meo was a Corsican-American arms dealer, most famous for supplying weapons to the Irish Republican Army through their operative George Harrison....
, who had connections in organised crime. Joe Cahill
Joe Cahill
Joe Cahill was a prominent Irish republican and former chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .- Background :In May 1920, Cahill was born in Divis Street in West Belfast, Ireland, where his parents had been neighbours of the Scottish-born Irish revolutionary James Connolly.Cahill...
acted as the contact between NORAID
NORAID
Noraid or the Irish Northern Aid Committee is an Irish American fund raising organization founded after the start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in 1969...
and Harrison. In 1971, the Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
(RUC) had already seized 700 modern weapons from the IRA, including 2 tonnes of high explosive and 157,000 rounds of ammunition, most of which were US made.
Brendan Hughes
Brendan Hughes , also known as "The Dark", was an Irish republican and former Officer Commanding of the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army...
, an IRA member who later became Officer Commanding
Officer Commanding
The Officer Commanding is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit , principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, the term Commanding Officer is applied to commanders of minor as well as major units.Normally an Officer Commanding is a company, squadron or battery...
of the IRA inside Long Kesh prison, the IRA smuggled small arms from America by sea on the Queen Elizabeth II
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
Queen Elizabeth 2, often referred to simply as the QE2, is an ocean liner that was operated by Cunard from 1969 to 2008. Following her retirement from cruising, she is now owned by Istithmar...
from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
via Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, through Irish members of her crew, until the network was cracked down by the FBI in the 1980s. These Queen Elizabeth II shipments included M16
M16 rifle
The M16 is the United States military designation for the AR-15 rifle adapted for both semi-automatic and full-automatic fire. Colt purchased the rights to the AR-15 from ArmaLite, and currently uses that designation only for semi-automatic versions of the rifle. The M16 fires the 5.56×45mm NATO...
, CAR-15
CAR-15
The Colt Automatic Rifle-15 Military Weapons System or CAR-15 was a family of AR-15 and M16 rifle–based firearms marketed by Colt in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Due to their compact size, the short-barreled Colt Commando and XM177 versions of this family continued to be issued to the U.S...
, AR-18
AR-18
The AR-18 is a gas operated, selective fire assault rifle chambered for 5.56x45mm ammunition. The AR-18 was designed at ArmaLite in California by Arthur Miller, George Sullivan, and Charles Dorchester in 1963 as an improved alternative to the AR-15 design, which had just been selected by the U.S....
and AR-15
AR-15
The AR-15 is a lightweight, 5.56 mm, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed semi-automatic rifle, with a rotating-lock bolt, actuated by direct impingement gas operation. It is manufactured with the extensive use of aluminum alloys and synthetic materials....
Armalite
ArmaLite
ArmaLite is the name of a small arms engineering facility founded in the early 1950s, and once associated with the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation. ArmaLite was formally incorporated as a subdivision of Fairchild on October 1, 1954...
assault rifles, accompanied by Browning
Browning Arms Company
Browning Arms Company is a maker of firearms, bows and fishing gear. Founded in Utah in 1927, it offers a wide variety of firearms, including shotguns, rifles, pistols, and rimfire firearms and sport bows, as well as fishing rods and reels....
pistols and Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson is the largest manufacturer of handguns in the United States. The corporate headquarters is in Springfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1852, Smith & Wesson's pistols and revolvers have become standard issue to police and armed forces throughout the world...
pistols and revolvers and were driven from Southampton to Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
in small consignments.
In the late 1970s, another IRA member, Gabriel Megahey, was sent to America to acquire more arms and he was able to procure more AR-15 Armalites, plus a number of Heckler & Koch
Heckler & Koch
Heckler & Koch GmbH is a German defense manufacturing company that produces various small arms. Some of their products include the SA80, MP5 submachine gun, G3 automatic rifle, the G36 assault rifle, the HK 416, the MP7 personal defense weapon, the USP series of handguns, and the high-precision...
rifles and other weapons. Again, the purchase of these weapons was funded by Irish American republicans. A batch of M60 machine guns was imported in 1977.
Harrison was arrested by the FBI in 1981, but acquitted at his trial. Megahey was arrested by the FBI in 1982 after a successful "sting operation
Sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...
", where he was trying to purchase surface-to-air missile
Surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...
s (SAMs) for the IRA, and sentenced to seven years in prison.
In 1984, the FBI warned Ireland that a major IRA arms shipment was underway from the U.S., and that the weaponry would be transferred to an Irish fishing trawler in the Atlantic. Subsequently, Irish authorities discovered that arms ship was a vessel named Marita Ann, allegedly after a tip off Sean O'Callaghan
Sean O'Callaghan
Sean O'Callaghan is a former member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who became an informer for the Garda Síochána and who was later debriefed by the UK's MI5 in the Netherlands...
, an IRA informant for Garda Síochána
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
(Irish police). Three Irish Naval Service
Irish Naval Service
The Naval Service is the navy of Ireland and is one of the three standing branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its main base is in Haulbowline, County Cork....
ships confronted the vessel off the coast of County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
, and prevented its escape by firing warning shots. A team of naval personnel and Garda officers boarded the ship, arresting the crew of five and confiscating seven tons of military equipment, as well as medications, training manuals, and communications equipment.
Libyan arms
The other source of IRA arms in the 1970s was LibyaLibya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, whose leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
, sympathised with their campaign. The first Libyan arms donation to the IRA occurred in 1972–1973, following visits by Joe Cahill
Joe Cahill
Joe Cahill was a prominent Irish republican and former chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .- Background :In May 1920, Cahill was born in Divis Street in West Belfast, Ireland, where his parents had been neighbours of the Scottish-born Irish revolutionary James Connolly.Cahill...
to Libya. In early 1973, the Government of the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
received intelligence that the vessel Claudia was carrying a shipment of weapons, and placed the ship under surveillance on 27 March. On 28 March, three Irish Naval Service patrol vessels intercepted the Claudia in Irish territorial waters near Helvick Head, County Waterford
County Waterford
*Abbeyside, Affane, Aglish, Annestown, An Rinn, Ardmore*Ballinacourty, Ballinameela, Ballinamult, Ballinroad, Ballybeg, Ballybricken, Ballyduff Lower, Ballyduff Upper, Ballydurn, Ballygunner, Ballylaneen, Ballymacarbry, Ballymacart, Ballynaneashagh, Ballysaggart, Ballytruckle, Bilberry, Bunmahon,...
, seizing five tonnes of Libyan arms and ammunition found on board. The weapons seized included 250 Soviet-made small arms, 240 rifles, anti-tank mines and other explosives. Cahill was found and arrested on board. It is estimated that three shipments of weapons of similar size and makeup did get through to the IRA during the same time period. Moloney reports that the early Libyan arms shipments furnished the IRA with its first RPG-7
RPG-7
The RPG-7 is a widely-produced, portable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Originally the RPG-7 and its predecessor, the RPG-2, were designed by the Soviet Union, and now manufactured by the Bazalt company...
rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and that Gaddafi also donated three to five million US dollars at this time. However contact with the Libyan
Libyan
A Libyan is a person or thing of, from, or related to Libya in North Africa.The term Libyan may also refer to:* A person from Libya, or of Libyan descent. For information about the Libyan people, see Demographics of Libya and Culture of Libya. For specific persons, see List of Libyans.* Libyan...
government was broken off in 1976.
Contact with Libya was restored in the aftermath of the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike
1981 Irish hunger strike
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners...
, which was said to have impressed Gadaffi. In the 1980s, the IRA secured larger quantities of weapons and explosives from Gaddafi's Libya — enough to supply at least two infantry battalions. These shipments were as a direct result of Gaddafi's desire to strike at the British Government for their support and assistance during the US Air Force's bombing attacks on Tripoli and Benghazi in 1986
Operation El Dorado Canyon
The 1986 United States bombing of Libya, code-named Operation El Dorado Canyon, comprised the joint United States Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps air-strikes against Libya on April 15, 1986. The attack was carried out in response to the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing.-Origins:Shortly after his...
. The USAF planes involved in the bombings had taken off from British bases on 14 April 1986. 60 Libyans died in the attack. This second major Libyan contribution to the IRA came in 1986–1987. The arms shipments included:
- 9mm Browning, TaurusTaurus (manufacturer)Forjas Taurus is a manufacturing conglomerate based in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Beginning as a tool and die manufacturer, the company now consists of divisions focusing on firearms, metals manufacturing, plastics, body armor, helmets, and civil construction.-History:Taurus produced its first...
, GlockGlockGlock Ges.m.b.H. is a weapons manufacturer headquartered in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria, named after its founder, Gaston Glock...
and BerettaBerettaFabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta is an Italian firearms manufacturer. Their firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, law enforcement, and military purposes. It is also known for manufacturing shooting clothes and accessories. Beretta is the oldest active firearms manufacturer in the...
handguns - AK-47 KalashnikovAK-47The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
assault rifles - MP5Heckler & Koch MP5The Heckler & Koch MP5 is a 9mm submachine gun of German design, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH of Oberndorf am Neckar....
submachine guns - RPG-7RPG-7The RPG-7 is a widely-produced, portable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Originally the RPG-7 and its predecessor, the RPG-2, were designed by the Soviet Union, and now manufactured by the Bazalt company...
anti-tank rocket launcher - SovietSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
made DShKDShKThe DShK 1938 is a Soviet heavy machine gun firing the 12.7x108mm cartridge. The weapon was also used as a heavy infantry machine gun, in which case it was frequently deployed with a two-wheeled mounting and a single-sheet armour-plate shield...
heavy machine guns - FN MAGFN MAGThe FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries, and it has been made under licence in countries such as Argentina, Egypt, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the...
machine gunMachine gunA machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s - Military flamethrowers
- SemtexSemtexSemtex is a general-purpose plastic explosive containing RDX and PETN. It is used in commercial blasting, demolition, and in certain military applications. Semtex became notoriously popular with terrorists because it was, until recently, extremely difficult to detect, as in the case of Pan Am...
plastic explosive - Strela 2Strela 2The 9K32 “Strela-2” is a man-portable, shoulder-fired, low-altitude surface-to-air missile system with a high explosive warhead and passive infrared homing guidance...
man portable SAMs
However, on 1 November 1987, during transit to Ireland, one-third of the total Libyan arms consignment being carried aboard the MV Eksund (sometimes referred to simply as Eksund) was intercepted by the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
while the ship was in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
, along with five crew members, among them Gabriel Cleary
Gabriel Cleary
Gabriel Cleary is a senior engineer in the Provisional IRA. A native of Tallaght, he was arrested in 1987 when the French and Irish governments intercepted a shipment of weapons from Libya. After spending five years in French prison, Leary was freed in 1992...
. The vessel was found to contain 120 tonnes of weapons, including HMGs, 36 RPGs, 1000 detonators, 20 SAMs, Semtex and 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition. Author Ed Moloney
Ed Moloney
Ed Moloney is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and particularly the activities of the Provisional IRA. Ed worked for the Hibernia magazine and Magill before going on to serve as Northern Ireland editor for The Irish Times and...
claimed that the Eksund shipment also contained military mortars and 106 millimetre cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
, an assertion never confirmed by the Irish authorities. Despite the Eksund fiasco, the IRA was by then equipped with a quantity and quality of weaponry and explosives never available to them at any other phase of their history. Furthermore, according to Brendan O'Brien there was actually an 'over-supply', specially regarding the 600 AK-47s still in the hands of the IRA by 1992. There were four shipments before the Eksund which were not intercepted, in a huge intelligence failure of both Irish and British agencies described as 'calamitous' by author Brendan O'Brien. The previous arm supplies from Libya developed as follows:
- The trawler Casamara took on ten tonnes of weapons in September 1985 off the Maltese island of GozoGozoGozo is a small island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Southern European country of Malta; after the island of Malta itself, it is the second-largest island in the archipelago...
. These weapons were landed off the Clogga Strand near ArklowArklowArklow , also known as Inbhear Dé from the Avonmore river's older name Abhainn Dé, is a historic town located in County Wicklow on the east coast of Ireland. Founded by the Vikings in the ninth century, Arklow was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the 1798 rebellion...
by inflatable boats some weeks later. The shipment contained five hundred crates of AK-47s, pistols, hand grenades, ammunition and seven RPG-7s. - The Casamara (renamed Kula at this time), left Maltese waters on 6 October 1985 carrying a cache of Soviet-made heavy machine guns.
- In July 1986, there was a shipment of fourteen tonnes, including, according to the authorities, two SAM-7s.
- In October 1986, another shipment of 80 tonnes which included one tonne of Semtex, reportedly ten SAM-7 missiles, more RPG-7s, AK-47s and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition arrived aboard the oil-rig replenishment Villa.
It is also estimated that the Libyan government gave the IRA the equivalent of £2 million along with the 1980s shipments.
Garda Síochána
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
(Irish police) uncovered numerous arms destined for the IRA in 1988. These included several hundred AK-47s, Russian DSHK HMGs, FN MAG machine guns and Semtex.
Compensation claims
On 31 October 2009, a cross-party delegation of Northern Irish politicians travelled to the Libyan capital Tripoli for the first face to face meeting with Libyan government ministers to discuss compensation claims for victims of IRA violence.Other arms sources
Dáithí Ó Conaill
Dáithí Ó Conaill was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council, vice-president of Sinn Féin and Republican Sinn Féin. He was also the first chief of staff of the Continuity IRA.-Joins IRA:...
in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
and in the 1980s, Belgian FN FNC
FN FNC
The FNC is a 5.56mm assault rifle developed by the Belgian arms manufacturer Fabrique Nationale of Herstal and introduced in the late 1970s.-Development:...
rifles were obtained, probably smuggled through the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. There was contact between the IRA and the PLO starting from the mid-70's which included the training of IRA volunteers. At one stage the PLO offered weapons and training to the IRA, but they declined on the grounds that it was impossible to smuggle arms out of the Middle East without alerting Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i intelligence. Tim Pat Coogan
Tim Pat Coogan
Timothy Patrick Coogan is an Irish historical writer, broadcaster and newspaper columnist. He served as editor of the Irish Press newspaper from 1968 to 1987...
wrote that assistance from the PLO largely dried up in the mid 1980's after the PLO had forged stronger links with the government of the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. AK4 rifles from Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
were also secretly obtained.
Last arms deals
In the 1990s, the Provisional IRA South Armagh BrigadeProvisional IRA South Armagh Brigade
The South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army operated during the Troubles in south County Armagh. It was organised into two battalions, one around Jonesborough and another around Crossmaglen. By the 1990s, the South Armagh Brigade was thought to consist of about 40 members,...
imported a number of high velocity Barrett Light 50 and Barrett Model 90
Barrett M90
The Barrett M90 is a bolt-action, bullpup sniper rifle, chambered in .50 BMG , and designed by Barrett Firearms Company.-Overview:...
sniper rifles from the United States. These weapons were used by two Armagh ASUs to conduct a sniping campaign
South Armagh Sniper (1990-1997)
The South Armagh Sniper is the generic name given to the members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army's South Armagh Brigade who conducted a sniping campaign against British security forces from 1990 to 1997....
against British Army patrols operating in the area. The last British soldier killed in Northern Ireland during The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
, Stephen Restorick, was shot dead with a Barrett rifle in 1997. Soon after, the leader of one of the Armagh sniper squads, Michael Caraher, was captured and a Barrett rifle recovered.
Despite their ceasefires of 1994 and 1997 the IRA continued to buy arms. They needed a new source of weapons, since the Libyan
Libyan
A Libyan is a person or thing of, from, or related to Libya in North Africa.The term Libyan may also refer to:* A person from Libya, or of Libyan descent. For information about the Libyan people, see Demographics of Libya and Culture of Libya. For specific persons, see List of Libyans.* Libyan...
pipeline had been closed. In May 1996, the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's internal security service, publicly accused Estonia of arms smuggling, and claimed that the IRA had contacted representatives of Estonia's volunteer defense force, Kaitseliit, and some non-government groups to buy weapons. However he did not say when the contacts had taken place. In July 1999, three men, Anthony Smyth, Conor Claxton, and Martin Mullan, along with an accomplice, Siobhan Browne, were arrested by the American FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
and ATF
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice...
agencies and accused of buying 44 handguns from arms dealers in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and posting 15 of the weapons to Ireland and the United Kingdom. Later estimates put the number of guns sent to Ireland at more than 100 pistols and machine-pistols. All three men were cleared of conspiracy to aid terrorists and to commit murder. They were later sentenced on the less serious smuggling charge. The IRA leadership denied knowledge of the arms buys.
Decommissioning of arms
Following the announcement of their cessation of violence and commitment to exclusively peaceful means, the Provisional IRA decommissioned its arms in July–September 2005. Among the weaponry estimated, (by Jane's Information GroupJane's Information Group
Jane's Information Group is a publishing company specializing in transportation and military topics.-History:It was founded by Fred T...
), to have been destroyed as part of this process were:
- 1,000 rifles
- 3 tonnes of Semtex
- 20–30 heavy machine guns
- 7 surface-to-air missiles
- 7 flame throwers
- 1,200 detonators
- 20 rocket-propelled grenade launchers
- 100 hand guns
- 100+ grenades
The panel overseeing the decommissioning of IRA weaponry and weapons stockpiles, the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning was established to oversee the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons in Northern Ireland, as part of the peace process.-Legislation and organisation:...
(IICD) headed by General de Chastelain
John de Chastelain
Alfred John Gardyne Drummond de Chastelain is a retired Canadian soldier and diplomat.De Chastelain was born in Romania and educated in England and in Scotland before his family immigrated to Canada in 1954...
oversaw the decommissioning process. The decommissioning process has taken place using estimates of IRA weaponry submitted by the British and Irish Governments. General de Chastelain said he had seen rifles, particularly AK-47s, machine guns, ground-to-air missiles, explosives, explosive material, mortars, flame throwers, hand guns, timer units and ballistic caps, and some weaponry that was "very old", including a Bren machine gun.
The IICD's final report was issued on 26 September 2005 and the panel stated to the press:
"We have observed and verified events to put beyond use very large quantities of arms which we believe include all the arms in the IRA's possession… Our new inventory is consistent with these estimates. We are satisfied that the arms decommissioning represents the totality of the IRA's arsenal."
and while they could not report on the quantity or types of weapons destroyed they said:
"The experience of seeing this with our own eyes, on a minute-to-minute basis, provided us with evidence so clear and of its nature so incontrovertible that at the end of the process [IRA weapon decommissioning] it demonstrated to us — and would have demonstrated to anyone who might have been with us — that beyond any shadow of doubt, the arms of the IRA have now been decommissioned."
Irish Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
(Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern
Bertie Ahern
Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....
also stated at the time:
"The weapons of the IRA are gone, and are gone in a manner which has been verified and witnessed"
However despite the conclusion of the IICD agreeing with the figures provided by the British security forces, unnamed sources in MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
and the PSNI
Police Service of Northern Ireland
The Police Service of Northern Ireland is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary which, in turn, was the successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary in Northern Ireland....
have reported to the press that not all IRA arms were destroyed during the process, a claim which so far remains unsubstantiated. These reports have since been scotched by the group overseeing the activities of paramilitaries in Northern Ireland — the Independent Monitoring Commission
Independent Monitoring Commission
The Independent Monitoring Commission was an organization founded on 7 January 2004, by an agreement between the British and Irish governments, signed in Dublin on 25 November 2003...
(IMC). In its latest report, dated April 2006, the IMC points out that it has no reason to disbelieve the IRA or information to suspect that the group has not fully decommissioned. Rather, it indicated that any weaponry that had not been handed in had been retained by individuals outside the IRA's control. Excerpt from the IMC's 10th report:
"Indeed, our present assessment is that such of the arms as were reported to us as having been retained, would have been withheld under local control despite the instructions of the leadership. We note that, as reported by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD), the leadership claimed only to have decommissioned all the arms "under its control". The relevant points are that the amount of un-surrendered material was not significant in comparison to what was decommissioned and that these reports do not
cast doubt on the declared intention of the IRA leadership to eschew terrorism and to follow the political path. We will continue to monitor the position."