INLA

Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
synonyms: People's Liberation Army (PLA); People's Republican Army (PRA); Catholic Reaction Force (CRF)

A Republican paramilitary group which was established in 1975. This group initially used the name People's Liberation Army (PLA) before adopting the name Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). The INLA has also used a number of covernames including: People's Republican Army (PRA) and Catholic Reaction Force (CRF). At the time it was formed the INLA was considered to be the military wing of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP). The aim of the INLA, and the IRSP, is the re-unification of Ireland and the creation of a revolutionary socialist republic. Many of the initial recruits for the INLA were believed to have come from the Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) which had called a ceasefire in 1972. Much of the support came from the Markets and Lower Falls areas of Belfast and from parts of County Derry.

The INLA achieved world attention when it claimed responsibility for the bomb which killed Airey Neave within the grounds of the Palace of Westminster. Members of the INLA have been involved in a number of feuds when splinter groups developed and numerous previous members have died at the hands of former associates. During the ceasefires that began in 1994 the INLA did not declare a ceasefire, instead it adopted a policy of 'no-first-strike'. On 27 December 1997 members of the INLA shot and killed Billy Wright, then leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), inside the Maze Prison. In the following weeks 10 Catholic civilians were shot dead by the LVF and the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) in retaliation for Wright's killing.

The INLA has always been a much smaller, and less active, paramilitary group than the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The INLA has killed approximately 125 people during the conflict of whom 45 were members of the security forces. The INLA has had approximately 20 (??) members killed. The INLA called a ceasefire on 22 August 1998 but refused to engage in any of decommissioning under the auspices of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD). On 8 August 1999 The Sunday Times reported that the INLA had declared that the "war is over" but stated that it would not decommission its weapons. Despite these statements the INLA continued to be involved in violence.

On Sunday 11 October 2009 the Irish Republican Socialist Movement (IRSM) published a statment said to have been issued by the INLA. The statement said that its "armed stuggle is over" and the INLA would pursue its objectives by "exclusively peaceful political stuggle". There were also media reports that the INLA had begun talks on decommissioning of its weapons. This proved to be the case when the leadership of the INLA released a statement, on 8 February 2010, on the issue of weapons held by the INLA.

Membership: Membership was estimated at a couple of dozen active members with a network of supporters in Ireland and continental Europe.

Arsenal: Before decommissioning took place the INLA was believed to have small stocks of rifles, hand guns and, possibly, grenades; it was also believed to have a small stock of commercial explosive from a source in New Zealand in the mid-1990s.

Reading:
Holland, Jack., and McDonald, Henry. (1994). INLA Deadly Divisions.