Official Irish Republican Army

synonyms: 'Officials'; 'Stickies' The Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) was the term given to the remnants of the IRA following the split in 1970 when many members left to form the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA). At the time of the split Cathal Goulding was Chief of Staff of the IRA. Goulding was trying to make the IRA a more political organisation and in particular to end the abstentionist policy. While initially the OIRA was the larger of the two groups, the PIRA quickly gained new recruits, and some former members of the OIRA, to become the largest Republican paramilitary organisation in Ireland. There were a number of feuds between the two groups in the early 1970s. The OIRA called a ceasefire in 1972 and has been largely inactive since that date. The OIRA did however engage in a feud in 1975 with the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP). There have also been allegations during the 1980s and 1990s that the OIRA was still in existence. The alleged connections between the OIRA and the Workers' Party (WP) in early 1992 led to a split in the WP and the formation of Democratic Left. During the period 1969 to 1979 the OIRA killed 49 people of whom 13 were members of the security forces. During the same period approximately 21 members of the OIRA were killed. On 8 February 2010 a statement was issued on behalf of the OIRA indicating that the organisation had carried out decommissioning under the remit of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD). Membership: The OIRA called a ceasefire in 1972. There have been a number of incidents since then attributed to the 'Officials' and it is possible that a small number of people still belong to a remnant of that organisation (the Irish Times, on 14 May 1998, referred to this remnant as 'Group B' but the term was coined as far back as the 1970s). Arsenal: Prior to decommissioning it was believed that the OIRA possessed 300-400 rifles; a small number of heavy machineguns; and dozens of hand guns.