Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA)

Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) also operates as, or is known as, the Continuity Army Council.

A consumer information officer with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission demonstrates the danger crib slats can pose to an infant during a press conference in 2002.

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CIRA is a radical terrorist splinter group formed in 1994 as the clandestine armed wing of Republican Sinn Fein (RSF), which split from Sinn Fein in the mid-1980s. "Continuity" refers to the group's belief that it is carrying on the original IRA goal of forcing the British out of Northern Ireland, and CIRA actively seeks to recruit IRA members. CIRA has been active in the border areas of Northern Ireland where it has carried out bombings, as sassinations, kidnappings, extortion, and robberies. Tar gets include British military and Northern Ireland security targets and Northern Ireland Loyalist paramilitary groups. CIRA does not have an established presence on the U.K. mainland. As of May, 2002, CIRA was not observing an established cease-fire and in October, 2001, CIRA officials stated that decommissioning weapons would be "an act of treachery."

CIRA is estimated to have fewer than 50 dedicated activists, but is said to have recruited new members in Belfast. CIRA is suspected of receiving funds and arms from sympathizers in the United States. CIRA may have acquired arms and materiel from the Balkans in cooperation with the Real IRA.

█ FURTHER READING:

ELECTRONIC:

CDI (Center for Defense Information), Terrorism Project. CDI Fact Sheet: Current List of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations. March 27, 2003. < http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/terrorist.cfm > (April 17, 2003).

Central Intelligence Agency. World Factbook, 2002. < http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ > (April 16, 2003).

Taylor, Francis X. U.S. Department of State. "Patterns of Global Terrorism 2001," Annual Report: On the Record Briefing. May 21, 2002 < http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rm/10367.htm > (April 17,2003).

U.S. Department of State. Annual Reports. < http://www.state.gov/www/global/terrorism/annual_reports.html > (April 16, 2003).

SEE ALSO

Terrorism, Philosophical and Ideological Origins
Terrorist and Para-State Organizations
Terrorist Organization List, United States
Terrorist Organizations, Freezing of Assets