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Provisional Irish Republican Army

Irish republican paramilitary group, 1969–2005

36 dated entries naming Provisional Irish Republican Army, drawn from 20 separate years between 1970 CE and 2005 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

Also written as PIRA, Provisional IRA in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

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20th century

  • 1970May 6 – Arms Crisis in the Republic of Ireland: Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney are dismissed as members of the Irish Government for accusations of their involvement in a plot to import arms for use by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland.source
  • 19706 May – Arms Crisis in the Republic of Ireland: The Minister for Finance, Charles Haughey, and the Minister for Agriculture, Neil Blaney, are asked to resign by Taoiseach Jack Lynch. He accuses them of the attempted illegal importation of arms for use by the Provisional IRA. Kevin Boland, the Minister for Local Government, resigns in sympathy with them.source
  • 1972February 2 – A bomb explodes at the British Yacht Club in West Berlin, killing Irwin Beelitz, a German boat builder. The West German militant group June 2 Movement claims responsibility, announcing its support of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.source
  • 1972July 21 – The Troubles: Bloody Friday – 22 bombs planted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army explode in Belfast, Northern Ireland; nine people are killed and 130 seriously injured.source
  • 1972July 31 – Claudy bombing ("Bloody Monday"), 10:00 AM : Three car bombs in Claudy, County Londonderry, kill nine. It becomes public knowledge only in 2010 that a local Catholic priest was an IRA officer believed to be involved in the bombings but his role was covered up by the authorities.source
  • 197231 July – Claudy bombing ("Bloody Monday"), 10:00 AM : Three car bombs in Claudy, County Londonderry, kill six immediately with three dying later in hospital. It becomes public knowledge only in 2010 that a local Catholic priest was an IRA officer believed to be involved in the bombings but his role was covered up by the authorities.source
  • 1972November 19 – Seán Mac Stíofáin, a leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, is arrested in Dublin after giving a radio interview to RTÉ and charged with being a member of the IRA.source
  • 1973March 8 – The Troubles: A referendum is held in Northern Ireland over whether to reunite with the Republic of Ireland or to stay a part of the UK. The result was 98% remain. The Provisional Irish Republican Army responds to the referendum by planting four car bombs in London on the same day, two of which went off, causing one death and injuring over 200 people.source
  • 1974November 21 – Birmingham pub bombings: In Birmingham, England, two pubs are bombed, killing 21 people in an attack widely believed at the time to be linked to the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The Birmingham Six are later sentenced to life in prison for this, but their convictions are quashed after a lengthy campaign.source
  • 1975September 5 – The London Hilton Hotel is bombed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army; two people are killed and 63 injured.source
  • 19765 January - Kingsmill massacre: ten Protestant men killed in South Armagh, Northern Ireland, by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), using the cover name "South Armagh Republican Action Force".source
  • 1976July 21 – A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb kills Christopher Ewart-Biggs, new British ambassador to the Irish Republic, and Judith Cooke, a Northern Ireland Office private secretary, in Dublin; two others are seriously wounded but survive.source
  • 1978June 21 – A shootout between Provisional IRA members and the British Army in Northern Ireland leaves one civilian and three IRA men dead.source
  • 197821 June – An outbreak of shooting between Provisional IRA members and the British Army leaves one civilian and three IRA men dead.source
  • 1979August 27 – The Troubles: Lord Mountbatten of Burma and two others are killed in a bombing on his boat in the Republic of Ireland by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Mountbatten was a British fleet admiral, statesman and an uncle of The Duke of Edinburgh. On the same day, the Warrenpoint ambush occurs, killing 18 British soldiers. Doreen Knatchbull, Baroness Brabourne would die in a hospital the following day from injuries sustained in the bombing.source
  • 1979November 23 – The Troubles: In Dublin, Ireland, Provisional Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten of Burma in August. He was released in 1998 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.source
  • 1980October 27 – Six Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoners in Maze prison in Northern Ireland refuse food and demand status as political prisoners; the hunger strike lasts until December.source
  • 1981March 1 – 1981 Irish hunger strike: Bobby Sands, a Provisional Irish Republican Army member, begins a hunger strike for political status at HM Prison Maze (Long Kesh) in Northern Ireland, dying on May 5, the first of 7 IRA and 3 INLA hunger strikers to die.source
  • 1983December 17 – Harrods bombings: a Provisional IRA car bomb kills 6 people and injures 90 outside Harrods department store in London.source
  • 1984October 12 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) attempts to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the British Cabinet in the Brighton hotel bombing with an explosive device planted nearly a month earlier in their conference hotel. The terror attack kills five people and injures 31.source
  • 1985February 28 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry in Northern Ireland. With nine officers dead, it is the highest loss of life for the RUC on a single day.source
  • 1985June 22 – British and Irish police foil a "mainland bombing campaign" sponsored by the Provisional Irish Republican Army which targets luxury vacation resorts.source
  • 1987May 8 – Loughgall ambush: A 24-man unit of the British Army Special Air Service (SAS) ambushed eight members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) as they mounted an attack on a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) barracks. All IRA members were killed as well as one civilian.source
  • 1987November 8 – Enniskillen bombing: Twelve people are killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb at a Remembrance Day service at Enniskillen.source
  • 1988March 6 – Operation Flavius: A Special Air Service team of the British Army shoots dead 3 unarmed members of a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) Active service unit in Gibraltar.source
  • 1988March 16 – Milltown Cemetery attack: Three men are killed and 70 wounded in a gun and grenade attack by loyalist paramilitary Michael Stone on mourners at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast, Northern Ireland, during the funerals of the 3 IRA members killed in Gibraltar.source
  • 1988March 19 – Corporals killings in Belfast: Two British Army corporals are abducted, beaten and shot dead by Irish republicans after driving into the funeral cortege of IRA members killed in the Milltown Cemetery attack.source
  • 1990June 1 – Members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army shoot and kill Major Michael Dillon-Lee and Private William Robert Davies of the British Army. Dillon-Lee is killed outside his home in Dortmund, Germany and Davies is killed at a railway station in Lichfield, England.source
  • 1990July 30 – British politician and former Member of Parliament Ian Gow is assassinated by a Provisional Irish Republican Army car bomb outside his home in England.source
  • 1990September 18 – Provisional Irish Republican Army assassination attempt on the life of Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Terry at his home near Stafford, England. Hit by at least 9 bullets, the former Governor of Gibraltar survives, as does his wife, Lady Betty Terry, who is also shot (most likely by accident).source
  • 1991February 18 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes bombs in the early morning, at both Paddington station and Victoria station, in London.source
  • 1991March 14 – The Troubles: After 16 years in prison for allegedly bombing an English public house in a Provisional IRA attack, the "Birmingham Six" are freed when a court determines that their conviction was unsafe and unsatisfactory.source
  • 1993November 28 – The Observer reveals that a channel of communications has existed between the Provisional Irish Republican Army and the British government, despite the government's persistent denials.source
  • 1994January 11 – The Irish government announces the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the Provisional Irish Republican Army and its political arm Sinn Féin.source
  • 1994August 31 – The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army announces a "complete cessation of military operations" as part of the Northern Ireland peace process. This will temporarily end in 1996 with the Docklands bombing in England before a definite ceasefire in 1997. In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement is signed and the IRA decommissions its weapons in 2005source

21st century

  • 2005July 28 – As a result of the Good Friday Agreement signed in 1998, the Provisional Irish Republican Army ends its armed campaign and decommissions their weapons, by ordering all its units to drop their arms under the supervision of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning.source

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