Outline of the Troubles explained

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Troubles.

The Troubles - historical ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "irregular war" or "low-level war". The conflict began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe.

Main articles

General

Timelines

Timeline of the Northern Ireland Troubles (1966–1998)
Timeline of the Troubles in the Republic of Ireland (1969–1998)
Timeline of the Northern Ireland Troubles in Britain (1969–1997)
List of bombings during the Northern Ireland Troubles (1969–1998)

of republican actions

Timeline of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions (1970–1997)
Timeline of Irish National Liberation Army actions (1975–1999)
Timeline of Continuity Irish Republican Army actions (1994–present)
Timeline of Real Irish Republican Army actions (1997–present)
Timeline of Óglaigh na hÉireann actions (2006–present)
Timeline of Irish People's Liberation Organisation actions (1986–1992)
Timeline of Official Irish Republican Army actions (1969–1972)

of loyalist actions

Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actions (1966–1994)
Timeline of Ulster Defence Association actions (1971–1994, 1997–1998)
Timeline of Loyalist Volunteer Force actions (1996–2000)
Timeline of Red Hand Commando actions (1973–1994)
Timeline of Orange Volunteer Force actions (1998–2009)

Paramilitaries

Laws in both the Republic of Ireland and the UK proscribe (ban) membership of a number of Irish republican and Ulster loyalist groups. Several other smaller paramilitary factions have appeared throughout the Troubles, and some groups have used cover-names to deflect responsibility for attacks.

In this context, operational refers to the period during which the 'official' paramilitary campaign was conducted.

Republicans

Name	Initials	Operational
Saor Éire	SÉ	1967–1975
Provisional Irish Republican Army	PIRA	1970–2005
Official Irish Republican Army	OIRA	1970–1972
Irish National Liberation Army	INLA	1974–2009
Irish People's Liberation Organisation	IPLO	1986–1992
Continuity Irish Republican Army	CIRA	1994–
Real Irish Republican Army	RIRA	1997–
Óglaigh na hÉireann (Real IRA splinter group)	ONH	2009–

Umbrella groups

Loyalists

Name	Initials	Operational
Ulster Protestant Volunteers	UPV	1966–1969
Ulster Volunteer Force Red Hand Commando	UVF RHC	1966– 1972–2007
Ulster Defence Association Ulster Freedom Fighters	UDA UFF	1971–
Ulster Resistance	UR	1986–?
Loyalist Volunteer Force	LVF	1996–2005
Orange Volunteers	OV	1998–
Red Hand Defenders	RHD	1998–

Umbrella groups

Ulster Army Council (UAC)
Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee (ULCCC)
Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC)

Cover names used by paramilitaries

Protestant Action Force – Used by the UVF to claim sectarian attacks.
South Armagh Republican Action Force – Used by the PIRA's South Armagh Brigade to claim sectarian attacks in the mid-1970s
Catholic Reaction Force – Used by the INLA to claim sectarian attacks.
Armagh People's Republican Army & People's Liberation Army – was used by the INLA to claim some of their earliest attacks, mostly in 1975.
Ulster Freedom Fighters – Used by the UDA to claim violent attacks.
Red Hand Brigade – Was used as a cover by the Glenanne gang members who carried out the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in May 1974.^[1]

Periods of activity

In the table below:

The period of activity for republican groups is shown in green.
The period of activity for loyalist groups is shown in orange.
The period of ceasefire is shown in grey.

State security forces

Political parties

Listing includes brief summary of ideology and position on the Good Friday Agreement 1998.

Irish nationalist

Pro-Agreement

Sinn Féin (SF). President: Mary Lou MacDonald. Militant nationalist. Associated with the Provisional IRA. Translation from Irish: "We Ourselves".
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). Leader: Colum Eastwood. Moderate centre-left nationalist.
The Workers' Party (WP). Leadership Disputed between Michael McCorry and Ted Tynan.^[2] Marxist nationalist. Formerly Official Sinn Féin.

Anti-Agreement

The Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP). Militant socialist nationalist. Political wing of INLA. Have been on ceasefire since 1998.
Republican Sinn Féin (RSF). President: Seosamh Ó Maoileoin. Militant nationalist. Associated with the Continuity IRA.
The 32 County Sovereignty Movement (32CSM). President: Francis Mackey. Militant nationalist. Associated with the Real IRA.
The Republican Network for Unity (RNU). Militant nationalist. Accused by Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) of being the political wing of Óglaigh na hÉireann (Real IRA splinter group), however this is rejected by both groups.

Others

Unionist

Pro-Agreement

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Leader: Jeffrey Donaldson. Radical populist unionist. Originally anti-Agreement.
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). Leader: Doug Beattie. Moderate conservative unionist.
The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP). Leader: Russell Watton. Moderate centre-left unionist. Political wing of Ulster Volunteer Force.
The Conservative Party also organises and contests elections in Northern Ireland. Moderate unionist.