What is the New IRA? What the group has done and where it sits in the IRA's history
Police lasered in on the New IRA after an off-duty police officer was shot in Northern Ireland. Sky News looks at who the dissident republican group is, how it formed and how it is different from other iterations of the IRA.
Thursday 23 February 2023 15:26, UK
Whether the motive was sectarian or just criminal, police say the New IRA is the "primary focus" of their investigation after an off-duty officer was shot in Northern Ireland.
Three men have been arrested for attempted murder after the police detective was shot multiple times in front of young people he had been coaching at a sports centre.
What is the New IRA, how did the dissident republican group form and how is it different to other iterations of the IRA?
Here's everything you need to know.
What is the New IRA?
The full name for the New IRA is the New Irish Republican Army - although its members describe it as simply the Irish Republican Army.
The organisation was dubbed the New IRA by the press after the Real IRA merged with Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) and other small militant groups in 2012.
In a statement at the time of the group's formation signed off by the "IRA Army Council", they claimed Irish people had been "sold a phoney peace, rubber-stamped by a token legislature in Stormont".
"The IRA's mandate for armed struggle derives from Britain's denial of the fundamental right of the Irish people to national self-determination and sovereignty," it said.
"So long as Britain persists in its denial of national and democratic rights in Ireland the IRA will have to continue to assert those rights."
Real, Provisional, New - what's the difference between the IRAs?
The New IRA is distinct from the Provisional IRA, the Republican paramilitaries who fought in The Troubles.
The Provisional IRA declared a ceasefire in 1997 and formally ended its armed campaign in July 2005, although security assessments in 2015 and 2020 revealed it still existed.
There have been a number of other organisations that have used the IRA name, often prompted by ideological differences and groups splintering off.
The first use of IRA dates back to the 1919-21 Irish War of Independence.
In 1969, the IRA membership was split over a vote to let Sinn Féin members sit in parliament.
The supporters remained in what became known as the Official IRA and the dissenters split off and formed the Provisional IRA.
In 1986, the Provisional IRA also decided to allow Provisional Sinn Féin members sit in parliament, prompting another splinter dubbed the Continuity IRA.
The Real IRA formed in 1997 by Provisional IRA dissidents who rejected the ceasefire.
The organisation was responsible for the 1998 Omagh bombing which left 29 people dead and injured hundreds more.
It then grew into the New IRA although there are small pockets of the Real IRA that did not merge with the new group.
Read more:
Children ran in 'sheer terror' as detective was shot
Sinn Féin condemns Omagh shooting 'outright and utterly'
What does the New IRA want?
It wants to see a united Ireland and an end to British rule in Northern Ireland, vowing to continue the armed struggle until those aims are achieved.
How serious a threat is it?
In March 2022, the terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland was lowered from "severe" to "substantial", the first reduction in 12 years.
Announcing the move, then-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis warned it was "not a time for complacency", saying "there is still a minority who wish to cause harm in Northern Ireland".
The political wing
The political party Saoradh - the Irish word for liberation - is widely believed to be the political wing of the New IRA, although this is denied by the party.
What has the New IRA done?
The New IRA admitted responsibility for the murder of journalist Lyra McKee, 29, who was shot in the head as she covered rioting on the Creggan estate in Derry in 2019.
Several men are currently awaiting trial charged with the murder.
In November 2012, prison officer David Black, 52, was gunned down while driving to work at Maghaberry high-security jail. The New IRA claimed responsibility for his murder.
In 2016 another prison officer was killed, the 32nd prison worker to be murdered in Northern Ireland because of their job.
Adrian Ismay died two weeks after a bomb exploded under his van in Belfast.
The New IRA claimed to have carried out the bomb attack.
In 2021, a bomb was placed near the car of a female police officer in what police said was an attempt to kill her and her child, linked to the New IRA.
The New IRA also claimed responsibility for a bomb placed under a police officer's car in 2019 and five letter bombs sent to two airports and a train station in London and the University of Glasgow.
Other bombings and attempted bombings claimed by or attributed to the New IRA include an explosion outside a Londonderry courthouse and a bomb in an "advanced state of readiness" found in Derry that police said was designed to kill officers.