Founded over eighty years ago, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) is arguably the longest-operating terrorist organization in Western Europe. Despite its longevity, the group remains committed to its founding goal, an Ireland fully independent of Great Britain. Ireland was ruled by Great Britain from the 18th century until 1921.  Between 1919 and 1921, Irish separatists engaged in a violent guerilla war on British forces within Ireland.  By 1921, the Irish separatists, led by the political party Sinn Fein, had reached an agreement with the United Kingdom called the Anglo-Irish Treaty.  With the signing of the treaty, the UK agreed to grant full independence to the southern 26 counties of Ireland while retaining sovereignty over the remaining six northern counties which would soon be known as Northern Ireland.  <p><br />Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, a civil war erupted in Ireland between pro-treaty and anti-treaty factions. While the acceptance of the treaty was ratified by referendum, there was a large minority that continued to find the creation of Northern Ireland an unacceptable compromise. In 1922, the IRA was founded by members of the anti-treaty faction who had participated in the guerrilla war against the British, lost the civil war and continued to refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. <p><br />In 1969, the commencement of the almost thirty-year period collectively known as the "Troubles," the IRA split into two rival factions, the Official and Provisional IRA. The Official IRA, with its Marxist-oriented ideology, was opposed to an armed campaign against the British and would later declare an indefinite ceasefire in 1972. Although there have been recent accusations of criminal involvement, the Official IRA is not active in a military capacity. Hard-line members of the IRA, espousing the traditional republican ideology and opposed to the Official IRA's leftist leanings, formed the Provisional IRA in order to escalate the armed campaign against the British troop presence in Northern Ireland and protect Catholic civilians. After 1972 ceasefire declared by the Official IRA, the Provisional IRA became the de facto IRA, desiring the removal of British troops and the unification of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. <p><br />The IRA seeks to unite all 32 counties into one Irish state, independent of Great Britain. Due to their opposition to the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, the IRA does not recognize the legitimacy of the governments of both Ireland and Northern Ireland although these views have been moderated in recent years. Bombings (particularly car bombs), assassinations, kidnappings, punishment beatings, extortion, smuggling and robberies have been conducted by the organization in Northern Ireland, Ireland, and mainland Great Britain. Although its primary targets have been the British military and police in Northern Ireland, the IRA has also carried out operations against Protestants (paramilitaries and civilians) and British government officials, police and civilians in mainland Great Britain and Europe.  Advanced warning for bombing attacks was occasionally given in order to minimize civilian causalities. After several instances of damaging police informant infiltrations, the IRA reorganized itself into small cells, called Active Service Units, under the leadership of the Army Council, to maintain operational security. <br />