Irish Republican Army (IRA) -- Founding Group
Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA) -- Ally

Continuity Army Council, Continuity IRA, Irish Continuity Army Council (ICAC)

<a href="terrorist_organizations_by_country.asp?id=EI">Ireland</a>, <a href="terrorist_organizations_by_country.asp?id=273">Northern Ireland (UK)</a>, <a href="terrorist_organizations_by_country.asp?id=UK">United Kingdom</a>

Extortion; Protection rackets; Bomb-making for hire; Support from sympathizers in the United States; Robberies

The CIRA remains committed to armed struggle to free Northern Ireland from British rule. It is the only Irish republican group that has not declared a cease-fire since the 1998 Good Friday Accords. The group has publicly disavowed the disarmament undertaken by the IRA in 2005, viewing it as treason. In February 2006, the CIRA and RSF caused a stir in Dublin when they led a counter-demonstration against a Unionist march that sparked rioting. Also in February, the Independent Monitoring Commission, established in 2004 to monitor paramilitary organizations in Northern Ireland, reported that a CIRA breakaway faction, calling itself Oglaigh na hEireann (Volunteers of Ireland), had emerged although little is known about the splinter group. <p><br />Though the CIRA is small (most estimates place its size between 20 and 50, while UK justice officials put the number at "less than 200"), it is committed to armed struggle and should be considered dangerous. The group is a particular threat to peace in Northern Ireland as the other republican groups strive to maintain a peace accord and prove that they have disarmed. <br />

The United States sponsored the contras' activities during much of the 1980s

The Contras is not a terrorist organization in the usual sense.  Following the 1979 Sandinista revolution, rebel groups formed to counter the new Nicaraguan regime.  These groups were primarily distinct and separate organizations with a common goal of overthrowing the Sandinista government.  The separate groups were collectively referred to as "counterrevolutionaries" or contras for short.  In a noteworthy twist of circumstances, a former terrorist organization, the Sandinistas, had reached the highest level of power in Nicaragua and were now forced to confront a new group of anti-state terrorists.  Only this time, the terrorists aimed to overthrow the revolutionary Sandinistas. <P> Shortly after the Sandinista takeover, Argentine military advisors began to train the contras.  Unfortunately for the contras, the Argentine military junta was in turmoil and unable to continue its support.  By 1982 the United States of America had taken over the sponsorship of the contras.  In 1985, the U.S. mandated that several of the contra groups consolidate under a unified structure.  The contras formed the Unified Nicaraguan Opposition, which comprised of four of the five biggest contra organizations. <P> The contras continued to assail the Sandinista regime throughout the 1980s.  During the conflict, both the rebel contras and the ruling Sandinistas perpetrated numerous human rights abuse.  Because both the contras and Sandinistas were recipients of foreign aid, the conflict mushroomed to a degree greater than most internal terrorist insurgencies.  In a certain sense, the contras were successful in their goal.  Combined with internal and external pressure to negotiate a truce with the contras, the Sandinistas were eventually obligated to open up democratic elections.  The 1990 Nicaraguan presidential election ended the Sandinista rule of Nicaragua.