Provisional Irish Republican Army

On 28 July 2005, the Provisional IRA (PIRA) made a statement in which it declared a formal end to its armed campaign. Furthermore, on Monday 26 September 2005, the head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) announced that PIRA had decommissioned all the weapons in its possession.

The Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC)'s fifteenth report, published on 24 April 2007, confirmed the PIRA leadership's commitment to the political path and stated that it believes PIRA is no longer engaged in terrorism.

PIRA was formed in 1969 after the Irish Republican Army (IRA) split over the issue of giving token recognition to the three parliaments in London, Dublin and Belfast. This was a major departure from the traditional Republican position and the "Provisional" IRA (PIRA) was established by those opposed to the change.

PIRA set itself against any settlement that fell short of an all-Ireland republic and committed itself to achieving that end through making war on British interests. Its subsequent terrorist campaign during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s encompassed Northern Ireland, Great Britain and continental Europe.

The rest of the IRA (the "Official" IRA) called a ceasefire in 1972 after the British Government suspended the Northern Ireland Parliament and introduced direct rule.

Following PIRA's historic July 2005 statement and subsequent decommissioning of weapons, the political process in Northern Ireland has continued to move forward. On 10 November 2006 the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, and the Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach), Bertie Ahern, set out the British and Irish Governments' timetable for reviving a power-sharing government. This was successfully achieved on 8 May 2007 when PIRA's associated political party, Sinn Fein, joined the new Northern Ireland Executive under a power-sharing arrangement with other nationalist and Unionist parties.