Splinter groups: Main players among dissident factions
After a split from mainstream IRA the Continuity IRA has splintered into several factions
A paramilitary colour party marches past the GPO as part of the Republican Sinn Féin parade to mark the 1916 Rising.
The Continuity IRA has been in existence since the mid-1980s after a split from the mainstream IRA. It was first linked to a number of attacks in the 1990s after the IRA declared a “complete cessation of military operations”. The Continuity IRA has since splintered into a number of factions.
The Real IRA emerged after an IRA “general army convention” in late 1997 and a failed attempt to overthrow the Adams-McGuinness leadership in a row over their peace strategy. The following year, dissidents were behind a series of bomb attacks before and after the Belfast Agreement, including the Omagh bomb in August 1998.