South Armagh, however, where the close rural community and family connections of IRA men diminished the risk of infiltration, retained its larger "battalion" structure. userID: purchase.granted_by_app_purchase.user_id, Unlike other operations in which the SAS were involved, members of the sniper team were not killed. [47] The Omagh bombing of August 1998, a botched Real IRA operation which killed 29 civilians, was prepared by dissident republicans in South Armagh. meteredAccess: purchase.metered_paywall, }; if (element.tagName === 'BODY' && ! 13 April 38-year-old Territorial Army sergeant Trevor Elliott from Alexander Gardens in the city is shot dead by the Provisional IRA as he walked from his shop in Keady, south Armagh. Then, in January 1976, after a series of loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) attacks on Catholic civilians in the border areas (including the Reavey and O'Dowd killings the previous day), the group shot and killed ten Protestant workmen in the "Kingsmill massacre" near Bessbrook. return 'epaper-access'; const subscriberCookie = JSON.parse(getCookie(subscriberCookieName) || '{}'); Tweets & replies. vars.user.subscriptionFinishDate = subscriberCookie.subscriptionFinishDate || ''; [8], At the beginning of the Northern Ireland Troubles in August 1969, rioters, led by IRA men, attacked the RUC barracks in Crossmaglen, in retaliation for the attacks on Catholic/nationalist areas in Belfast in the Northern Ireland riots of August 1969. [35] The shooting down of the Lynx in 1994 during a mortar attack on Crossmaglen barracks is regarded by Toby Harnden as the most successful IRA operation against a helicopter in the course of the Troubles. The Sunday Independent has learned that the South Armagh 'OC' was outed as a 'tout' earlier this year and that shortly afterwards an IRA bodyguard team was sent from Belfast to ensure that. The high power capability of the Barrett rifles posed a significant threat to British security forces and helicopters, forcing both to limit patrols and thus allow the IRA more freedom of movement. } } else if (Object.keys(p.badge || {}).indexOf('premium') > -1) { }); meteredAccess: purchase.metered_paywall, Five men, including one who was described by police in court as the UVF's East Belfast commander, and two women, were later jailed on various charges in connection with her death. But there's more: discover your full benefits now. He was driving his minibus when a car pulled up beside it and a gunman opened fire on him. It is believed that the British struck a deal whereby the IRA leaders could continue to benefit from the illicit trade so long as no further attacks on security forces or bomb attacks on commercial targets took place. Forkhill or Forkill (from Irish: Foirceal) is a small village and civil parish in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland, in the ancient barony of Upper Orior. Harnden was held to be in contempt of the Bloody Sunday tribunal for . 24 January Tony Harker, a 21-year-old Catholic civilian, is shot dead by the UDR in disputed circumstances outside a supermarket on the Keady Road. The dead youth, from the townland of Ballymoran just outside Armagh city, was learning to drive and had offered to put his father's car in the garage when the explosion happened. let cookieValue = parts.join('='); }; One gunman opened fire while another planted the bomb. Most of the South Armagh IRA stayed within the Provisional movement, but there were reports of the brigade aiding the dissidents in different actions before the signing of the agreement, among them the bombings of Moira and Portadown, and mortar attacks on a security base at Forkhill and a watchtower at Glassdrumman. She had gone to Belfast after spending some of the night drinking in Armagh, and had fallen in with a crowd of loyalist men and women who, realising that she was a Catholic from Armagh, took her to a house on Cregagh Street on the pretense of having a party. Purchase Price. bundle: 'premium-plus', Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan were returning from a meeting with the Garda Sochna in the Republic of Ireland, where they had been discussing a range of issues including ways of combating IRA attacks on the cross-border rail link, when they were ambushed. South Armagh became the most heavily militarised area in Northern Ireland. In an area with a population of 23,000, the British Army stationed around 3,000 troops in support of the RUC to contain an unknown number of paramilitaries. [38] The only successful IRA attack against an Army helicopter outside South Armagh was carried out by the East Tyrone Brigade near Clogher, County Tyrone, on 11 February 1990. His killing happened one day before his 30th birthday. SDLP MP, 17 November David Halligan, a 57-year-old UDR member, is shot dead by the Provisional IRA on the Hamiltonsbawn Road on the outskirts of the city. }); When they arrived, they were surrounded by 16 SAS men, who ordered them to surrender. !gigyaID ? If you have already submitted an application for the ERA Program, a regional provider will follow-up with you directly and provide guidance on . Shortly afterwards, the Army abandoned road transport in South Armagh." It is not clear how he came to be exposed as an agent, but he is believed to have been recruited by British intelligence in the late 1980s or early 1990s. It is Pearse's message and it has not changed. !gigyaID ? 'none' : 'registration'; window.IMP = window.IMP || {}; The OC of the Southern Command is said to be a man living in the Tallaght area of Dublin. The following August, two RUC constables were killed by a car bomb in Crossmaglen. meteredAccess: purchase.metered_paywall, 7 September 61-year-old Catholic RUC man John Wasson is shot dead by the INLA outside his Duke's Grove home in a nationalist area of the city. After this, 24 security force personnel and Lord Justice Gibson and his wife were killed in the same areas, roughly a third of the previous yearly rate. It is not clear how the 'OC' came to be exposed as an agent but he is believed to have been recruited by British Intelligence in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Following intelligence that the IRA were using farms as bases of operations / weapons caches, the Police, assisted by Army intelligence operatives, began a series of surveillance and search operations. It was organised into two battalions, one around Jonesborough and another around Crossmaglen. 9 March James Hogg, a 23-year-old Protestant civilian and member of the Orange Order, was shot dead in what is thought to have been a sectarian revenge attack by the INLA. const listenForFlipPayEvents = function () { @OCFireRescue. The incident caused outrage among South Armagh residents, provided the IRA with many new recruits and created a hostile climate where local people were prepared to tolerate the killing of security force members. document.body.addEventListener('fp_user_event', function (event) { [10], However, the IRA campaign in the area did not begin in earnest until 1971. // Regionals Container A sniper rifle and other weapons were recovered. The loyalties of many people in Northern Ireland's South Armagh are with the neighboring Irish republic. The team was eventually rounded up and arrested in an operation by the British Army's SAS near Crossmaglen in April 1997. bundle: bundleValue, } The culmination of Harnden's work in Northern Ireland was the publication of Bandit Country: The IRA & South Armagh (Hodder & Stoughton 1999), which sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide and is considered essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the Irish Troubles. He had charge of the IRA's Border sniper team, which killed seven soldiers and two police officers in the 1990s. const element = mutation.target; He regarded as exceptions the East Tyrone IRA unit, led by Jim Lynagh who was killed in an SAS ambush during an IRA attack on Loughall RUC base in 1987, and the "tight as a drum" South Armagh . Watch: Peter Crouch sings the Fields of Athenry with Liverpool fans in Dublin pub, Senior Tory begrudgingly backs Sunaks bitter pill Brexit deal as DUP split over support, Teachers union claims it was excluded from new pay talks, Jay Blades made chancellor of former university and receives honorary doctorate, Badenoch clashes with MPs over menopause discrimination law, Search teams using every resource they can in hunt for Constance Martens baby. The 'OC' is said to have bought another substantial portion of farmland in Armagh. When they arrived, they were surrounded by 16 SAS men, who ordered them to surrender. Martin McGuinness, then deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, gave the main oration, while Conor Murphy, then Minister for Regional Development, introduced the families of the dead IRA members. [45], In 1997, several members of the South Armagh Brigade, based in Jonesborough and Dromintee, following Michael McKevitt, left the Provisional IRA because of its acceptance of the Mitchell Principles of non-violence at a General Army Convention in October of that year and formed a dissident grouping, the Real IRA, which rejected the peace process. }; According to author Toby Harnden, the decision was taken shortly after a Saracen armoured vehicle was destroyed by a culvert bomb near Crossmaglen, on 9 October 1975. Photograph: Mirrorpix/Getty Images "And almost overnight the smugglers of South Armagh, under the control of the IRA, started bulk-buying . [4], As well as paramilitary activity, the South Armagh Brigade has also been widely accused of smuggling across the Irish border. The fierceness of the republicanism expressed by people like the local historians I spoke to is unsettling. From that point on the south Armagh OC and his associates became millionaires while continuing to donate a reputed 25% of their earnings to the IRA. On 11 June 1993, the South Armagh Brigade attempted to shoot down a Puma helicopter taking off from the Crossmaglen base with an improvised mortar. listenForFlipPayEvents(); }; The fact that the IRA executed the action despite the presence of a British Army watchtower nearby, caused outrage among British and Irish parliamentary circles. Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation. He had charge of the IRA's Border sniper team, which killed seven soldiers and two police officers in the 1990s. } return 'premium-plus'; if (subscriberCookieStatus === "undefined") { const flipPayJsUrl = 'https://cdn.flip-pay.com/clients/inm/flip-pay.js'; vars.user.subscriptionStatus = subscriberCookie.subscriptionStatus || ''; The latter is suspected of playing a role in the London bombings that marked the end of the IRA. meteredAccess: purchase.metered_paywall, Stock image. [27] However, the South Armagh Brigade continued to carry out varied and high-profile attacks in the same period. subscriptionStartDate: '1111-11-11T11:11:11Z', 3 April 1993 - A British soldier was shot and injured by the IRA near Crossmaglen, South Armagh. 'false' : 'true'; Elliott was press officer for the Armagh branch of the. A sniper rifle and other weapons were recovered. He is a close associate of the Provos' Border boss, Thomas 'Slab' Murphy, Gerry Adams and other figures in Sinn Fein. The man, who has the official title of 'officer commanding' South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional IRA, is also a member of the 'Northern Command', the ruling body which effectively ran the organisation from the early 1980s. const subscriberCookieStatus = getCookie(subscriberCookieName) || '{}'; }; userID: purchase.granted_by_purchase.user_id, In September 1975 they attacked an Orange lodge in Newtownhamilton, killing five members of the lodge. . window.dataLayer.push(vars); It was one of the few times the SAS didn't shoot members of an IRA 'active service unit' on armed operations. The South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) operated during the Troubles in south County Armagh. } The men were taken out of their minibus and then . Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. 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