Óglaigh na hÉireann (Real IRA splinter group)


Óglaigh na hÉireann was the title taken by a small dissident Irish republican paramilitary group that took part in the dissident Irish Republican campaign. The organisation started carrying out attacks around 2009 and was formed after a split within the Real IRA.
In December 2010, the group's strength was estimated to be about 50 members and it was recruiting and training in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The group has carried out high-profile attacks on the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the British Army in Northern Ireland. The organisation seems to be mainly based in the Belfast area, and there are also elements within the Derry, Strabane and South Armagh/North Louth areas. However, with the growth of the larger Real IRA after it merged with other dissident groups in July 2012 to form the ‘New IRA’, the organisation's activity has steadily declined. Splits and an intelligence campaign waged against it by the PSNI and MI5 have caused the organisation to lose many members, according to media reports. The organisation is said to be aligned with the Republican Network for Unity, a republican socialist group, although RNU has denied this.
The group called a ceasefire in January 2018. However, a group of members formed the new group Irish Republican Movement and threatened to continue to fight what they call Crown Forces.

Name

Óglaigh na hÉireann is an Irish Language idiom for "soldiers of Ireland", "warriors of Ireland", "Irish Volunteers", or "volunteers of Ireland". It is referred to as ONH for short by many, including the Independent Monitoring Commission.

Origins

It is claimed the organisation came into existence after a split between the older leadership of the Real IRA and the new leadership, with the older leadership claiming those that "took over" the Real IRA were "more interested in criminality as a opposed to fighting the crown forces". These tensions were evident as far back as late 2003, when Real IRA members in Portlaoise Prison called on the leadership to stand down and call off its campaign. However, these calls fell on deaf ears and a dispute started, with most Real IRA prisoners at the time siding with the older leadership who founded the organisation. The organization was formed in 2009 after a split within the Real IRA.

Weaponry

It is not well known what weaponry Óglaigh na hÉireann had access to. Most of its attacks use improvised explosive devices rather than more conventional military weapons. These include coffee jar bombs, car bombs, pipe bombs, improvised mortar, under car booby traps and other booby traps. These are weapons that have been used in attacks they have claimed. In August 2013 the group was blamed for planting a Katyusha-style rocket in undergrowth next to a field near Cullyhanna in South Armagh. The weapon was to be triggered using a mobile phone.
Other attacks Óglaigh na hÉireann has carried out have used conventional weapons such as grenades, assault rifles and pistols. In 2010 a man on a bicycle threw a "Russian type" hand grenade at Police Service of Northern Ireland officers attending a call to a betting shop. The officers were injured and the grenade caused slight damage to a kerb.

Campaign

In November 2010 an ONH leader stated that "The Provisional IRA took approximately 15 years to wind down. There is no ready-made IRA pack that can be assembled in a short period of time. An capable of having a sustained campaign will take time to develop."

2009