Talk:Irish National Liberation Army

The belief that the INLA came out of the Provisionals is totally wrong.

The INLA were a supposedly socialist organisation spawned from the Official IRA. The Official IRA comprised the socialist elements of the IRA left after the breakaway by the Provisionals. The breakup of the terror organisation could be said to have been caused by ideological differences in the organisation in the aftermath of the organisation’s calling-off of its military campaign in 1962. The change in emphasis from the military to the political in essence led to the IRA’s inability to defend the Nationalist areas of Belfast in 1969 and from that period the Belfast and Derry elements of the organisation were prominent in initiating the split.

This left elements in what was now the Official IRA, who still believed in a military solution, but their political leanings would not allow them to join the Provisionals. This was essentially the element that formed the INLA and its political wing, the Irish Republican socialist Party (IRSP).

The Provisionals maintained their organisation without a split until Ruairi O’Bradaigh, with the rejection of his abstentionist policies, and Daihi O’Conaill, along with O’Bradaigh, unable to maintain his position in the top posts in Sinn Féin, led a walkout from the 1986 Sinn Féin annual conference and set up Republican Sinn Féin as an organisation committed to the traditional republican policy. — Preceding unsigned comment added by [[User:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]] ([[User talk:{{{1}}}#top|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/{{{1}}}|contribs]]) _______________________

Someone has deleted information about the INLA's internal feuds, including even the killing of their founder, Seamus Costello and also about thier criminality. I suspect that the motivation for these changes is political, but I would like to assure the moderators that the information I have re-inserted is both true and verifiable. I will provide sources if necessary. Jdorney

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INLA / IRSP

You are totally right about the Officials splitting and the INLA being born. Seamus Costello and the other INLA leader were formerley leaders of the OIRA not the PIRA. you are also right about the internal fueds, in which later the splinter group (IPLO) were formed.

One of the smaller rep. groups?

From what have read INLA is still and has always been the second largest rep. group. Circa 50 members all the time, and with 113 killings, they're no. 4. after PIRA and the two main protestant groups. So that they are "one of the smaller rep. groups" is not correct. Also important to add to the picture is that there has been bigger and more violent groups. But they have been relative short-lived affairs. (Killed, jailed or disbanded after a few years). INLA on the other hand has existed more than 30 years. -Bjarnulf

In the early 70s, there were two large republican paramilitary groups, the PIRA and the Official IRA. the INLA split from the latter. The INLA was a significant paramilitary group in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Since then it has been one of a number of small armed republican groups including the IPLO (now disbanded) the Continuity IRA and the Real IRA. None of these groups has much support or influence. Arguably, of these, the most important is now the Real IRA. The INLA is a very marginal group. Jdorney

Confused

Bjarnulf, what other 'more powerful' but short-lived groups has their been? Also if you are talking about the most powerful Republican paramilitaries why do you mention the two 'protestant' (you mean Loyalist) paramilitaries behind the PIRA. Infact, both the UDA and UVF have more members than the PIRA and INLA combined.