Terrorism on the Rise in Ireland: Implications and Possible Solutions By: Olivia Tucker

            In 2023, the threat level in Northern Ireland for terrorism was raised from “substantial” to “severe,” indicating that an attack is highly likely.[1] This increase is a result of heightened terrorist activity from various dissident republican groups, including the New Irish Republican Army (New IRA).[2] 

            Created in 1919, the IRA is a militant group, whose purpose is to use “armed forces to render British rule in Ireland ineffective and thus to assist in achieving the broader objective of an independent republic, which was pursued at the political level by Sinn Fein, the Irish nationalist party.”[3]  It is estimated that, between 1969 and 1994, the IRA killed about 1,800 people, including approximately six-hundred civilians, in pursuit of an independent Ireland.[4] After its restructuring in 1997, the IRA received assistance from other countries to advance their continuing interest in an independent Ireland, including international arms dealers from Libya, and extensive funding from Irish Americans.[5] In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was signed and approved by public vote in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.[6] The agreement was designed to bring an end to more than thirty years of violent conflict in Northern Ireland known as “the Troubles.”[7] The New IRA and other dissident republican groups are opposed to Northern Ireland staying in the United Kingdom.[8] These groups also believe that the IRA’s leadership council is the sole legitimate government of Ireland.[9] All of the main political parties in Northern Ireland are opposed to these groups’ actions, and the support base is estimated to currently consist of five hundred individuals.[10]  

            Other legislation has been passed since the Good Friday Agreement to battle terrorism in Ireland. For example, the Offenses Against the State Acts of 1998 criminalizes “directing, aiding and membership of organizations that are deemed unlawful, as well as possession of items for purposes connected with certain offences.”[11] The Acts also prohibit “unlawful collection of information, withholding information and training persons in the making or use of firearms.”[12]The Criminal Offenses Act of 2005 specifies that “organizations that engage in, promote, encourage, or advocate the commission of any terrorist activity” are deemed to be unlawful organizations for the purposes of the Offenses Against the State Acts.[13] The act also defines terrorist activity as

            offences under Irish law which are committed inside or outside the State with the intent of seriously intimidating a population, unduly compelling a Government or international organisation to perform or abstain from performing any act, or           seriously destabilising or destroying the fundamental political, economic or social    structure of a state or international organisation.[14]

            Despite these agreements, dissident republican groups continue to engage in acts of terrorism in Ireland, primarily against law enforcement and security personnel.[15] In February 2023, Deputy Chief Inspector John Caldwell of Northern Ireland was shot several times by two gunmen while he was off-duty coaching a youth training program in Omagh.[16] The New IRA, the biggest and most active dissident group whose main areas of operations are in Londonderry and County Tyrone, claimed credit for the attack.[17] Other dissident republican groups have murdered police officers, soldiers, prison officials, and have conducted a number of bomb attacks, including one at Palace Barracks in Holywood where MI5 is based in Northern Ireland.[18] These attacks are likely to continue, as Irish police have confirmed that a list containing the details of thousands of police officers and civilian staff has recently fallen into the hands of dissident republicans.[19] In September 2019, Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland revealed that the Northern Irish police service had dealt with more terrorist investigations in the three months since his tenure began in July than in the whole of the previous year, which “clearly demonstrates that the threat itself has not decreased.”[20]

            These troubling attacks make clear that action needs to be taken to avoid the promotion of further terrorist activity by dissident republican groups in Ireland.[21] One potential solution to decrease terrorism threats from dissident republican groups is to stint their recruitment efforts.[22] In recent years, these groups have been recruiting younger generations, apparently limited to certain areas in Northern Ireland.[23] In April of 2020, it was reported that “many of the attacks carried out by the ‘new IRA’ at the start of 2019 had involved young men, and that representatives of the ‘new IRA’ had said that ‘the organisation is driven by young people … [who] are being radicalised [sic] because they have no one to turn to.’”[24] It has been proposed that non-national security departments should be able to intervene if they detect signs of young individuals becoming involved with terrorist groups, and to provide positive reinforcements, such as local health and educational services, to deter young individuals from these groups before their involvement becomes so severe as to “fall under the remit of the security services.”[25] An alternative way to combat terrorist activity is for  the imprisonment of key members.[26] Imprisoning dissident republican group members with bomb-making skills, access to firearms, and connections to weapons dealers can leave these groups without the necessary tools to launch their attacks.[27] Agencies are working to keep the United Kingdom safe from terrorism. In addition to the Secret Service MI5’s joint work with GCHQ and SIS, they work in partnership with Counter Terrorism Policing, a network of specialist police teams working around the country alongside our own regional network.[28] Counter Terrorism Policing works with MI5 during every stage of counter terrorism investigations and are usually “central to disrupting threat through arrests and criminal proceedings.”[29]

[1] Julian O’Neill & Niall Glynn, Northern Ireland terrorism threat level rises, BBC (Mar. 28, 2023), https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-65096493.

[2] Id.; Countering Terrorism, Security Service MI5, https://www.mi5.gov.uk/what-we-do/countering-terrorism#:~:text=Northern%20Ireland%2Drelated%20terrorism%20continues,wider%20communities%20in%20Northern%20Ireland (last accessed Aug. 20, 2024).

[3] Arthur Paul & Kimberly Cowell-Meyers, Irish Republican Army, Encyclopedia Britannica (Aug. 31, 2023), https://www.britannica.com/topic/Irish-Republican-Army.

[4] Id.

[5] Paul, supra note 3.

[6] Good Friday Agreement: What is it? BBC (Apr. 3, 2023), https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-61968177.

[7] Id.

[8] Luke Sproule & Julian O’Neil, Dissident republicans: Why Northern Ireland police are still a target, BBC (Aug. 14, 2023) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-64749806.

[9] Id.

[10] Id.

[11] Country Profile: Ireland, University of Nottingham, https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/hrlc/documents/publications/cthr/country-profile-ireland.pdf (last accessed Sept. 2, 2024).

[12] Id.

[13] Id.

[14] Id.

[15] Security Service MI5, supra note 2.

[16] O’Neill & Glynn, supra note 1.

[17] Id.

[18] Sproule & O’Neil, supra note 8.

[19] Timeline of dissident republican activity, BBC (Aug. 14, 2023) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-10866072.

[20] Northern Ireland-related terrorism, Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (Oct. 5, 2020) https://isc.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CCS207_CCS0221966010-002_Northern-Ireland-related-Terrorism-Web-Accessible-2.pdf.

[21] See id.

[22] See id.

[23] Id.

[24] Id.

[25] Id.

[26] Id.

[27] Id.

[28] Security Service MI5, supra note 2.

[29] Id.