Timeline of Continuity IRA actions


This is a chronology of activities by the Continuity Irish Republican Army, an Irish republican paramilitary group. The group started operations in 1994, after the Provisional Irish Republican Army began a ceasefire.
Note: All actions listed took place within Northern Ireland, unless stated otherwise.

1994

  • 19 December: The CIRA detonated a semtex bomb in a furniture store in Enniskillen.

    1995

  • 7 February: A small bomb was planted by the CIRA in a large general store in Newry.
  • 16 March: A small bomb was planted by the CIRA in the same Newry shop premises as the February attack.
  • 10 November: Gardaí intercepted of explosives a mile from the County Armagh border they believed were destined for Northern Ireland and arrested two men.

    1996

  • 6 January: The Irish Republican Publicity Bureau issued a statement saying "a reborn Irish Republican Army had emerged led by the 'Continuity Army Council'".
  • 13 July: The CIRA claimed responsibility for exploding a car bomb outside Killyhevlin Hotel in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh during a Catholic wedding reception. The blast caused serious damage and injured 17 people as they were being evacuated from the hotel.
  • 29 September: The CIRA claimed responsibility for abandoning a car bomb in Belfast. Security forces made the device safe using a controlled explosion.
  • 21 November: The CIRA claimed responsibility for planting a 600 lb bomb in Derry. It failed to explode and was defused by the security forces.

    1997

  • 27 January: The CIRA claimed responsibility for a suspect device found in Abbey Street in Derry. It was neutralised in two controlled explosions by the British Army.
  • 6 July: The CIRA claimed responsibility for a gun and grenade attack on New Barnsley RUC station, west Belfast, as part of the widespread violence that followed Secretary of State Mo Mowlam's decision over the Drumcree parade. See: 1997 nationalist riots in Northern Ireland.
  • 6 July: The CIRA claimed responsibility for a gun attack on RUC officers in the Oldpark Road-Cliftonville area of Belfast.
  • 6 July: The CIRA claimed responsibility for shots fired on the Stewartstown Road in the Andersonstwown area of Belfast.
  • 7 July: The CIRA claimed responsibility for a booby-trap bomb targeting British security forces left in Edenderry on the outskirts of Belfast. The RUC reported the device was a hoax.
  • 31 July: The CIRA planted a bomb in the grounds of Carrybridge Hotel near Lisbellaw, County Fermanagh. It was defused by the British Army.
  • 9 August: The CIRA planted a hoax van bomb on Craigavon Bridge in Derry, shortly before the start of the Apprentice Boys' parade through the city. Disturbances broke out during the march when loyalist bandsmen broke ranks to attack nationalist residents who were watching the parade.
  • 16 September: The CIRA claimed responsibility for exploding a van bomb outside the Royal Ulster Constabulary base in Markethill, County Armagh. The bombing happened a day after Sinn Féin joined the political negotiations which led to the Good Friday Agreement.
  • 16 October: the CIRA claimed responsibility for a hoax bomb scare at a public meeting addressed by Unionist politicians Peter Robinson, Robert McCartney, and Nelson McCausland.
  • 30 October: The CIRA claimed responsibility for planting a holdall bomb in an office of a government building in Derry. The bag contained a quantity of Semtex and petrol, but failed to detonate properly.
  • 30 October: the CIRA claimed a bomb targeting a British Army patrol failed to detonate in Armagh city. Following widespread disruption and several controlled explosions the British Army assessed the claim was a hoax.
  • 20 November: The CIRA planted a small bomb behind Belfast City Hall. The Progressive Unionist Party claimed the device was aimed at their ground floor office.

    1998

Note: for some of the incidents in 1998, it is unclear whether the Continuity IRA, the Real IRA, or both organizations were responsible:
  • 6 January: A car bomb was defused by the security forces in the centre of Banbridge, County Down. A telephoned warning had been sent.
  • 24 January: Following a telephoned warning, a car bomb exploded outside the 'River Club' on Factory Road in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. The building was extensively damaged, but there were no injuries. It is believed the CIRA was responsible.
  • 20 February: Following a telephoned warning, a car bomb exploded outside the RUC base in Moira, County Down. Seven RUC officers and four civilians were hurt. The blast caused widespread damage.
  • 23 February: Following a telephoned warning, a car bomb exploded near the RUC base on Edward Street in Portadown, County Armagh. The blast caused widespread damage but no injuries.
  • 20 March: A bomb was left in the Northern Bank on Guildhall Square, Derry, and the area was cleared for four hours while the British Army defused it. The CIRA claimed responsibility and said a Republican had tried to stop the CIRA members from planting the bomb.
  • 4 May: There was an attempted mortar attack on Grosvenor Road RUC base in Belfast. One of the mortars fell short of the target and the other exploded in its launch tube.
  • 9 May: There was a mortar attack on the RUC base in Belleek, County Fermanagh. The mortars fell short of their target and one exploded as the RUC was clearing the area. There were no injuries.
  • 15 May: A car and trailer bomb were abandoned in Kinawley, County Fermanagh. The British Army recovered and made safe two mortars, containing between and of explosives. It is believed the CIRA was responsible.

    1999

  • 14 January: There was a gun attack on Woodbourne RUC base in Belfast. Four men were later arrested. It is believed the CIRA was responsible.
  • 4 February: Channel 4 documentary Dispatches showed a CIRA propaganda video, which included members armed with a hand-held grenade launcher, an AK-47 assault rifle and a Magnum revolver.
  • 4 May: There was a gun attack on Lisnaskea RUC base in County Fermanagh. It is believed the CIRA was responsible.
  • 1 June: A telephone warning using a recognised CIRA codeword claimed a bomb had been left in Russell Street, Armagh. The RUC searched the area disrupting rush hour traffic, but no bomb was found.
  • 27 December: Approximately 20,000 people were evacuated from Kempton Park Racecourse following a bomb alert. The CIRA was blamed.

    2000

  • 6 February: The CIRA claimed responsibility for detonating a bomb at Mahon's Hotel in Irvinestown, County Fermanagh. A telephoned warning was sent and the hotel was evacuated beforehand.
  • 25 February: The CIRA claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on Shackleton British Army Barracks in Ballykelly, County Londonderry, which caused slight damage but no injuries. Three gas cylinders packed with explosives found at the scene failed to detonate.
  • 10 May: The CIRA issued a statement calling on the Provisional IRA to disband and hand its weapons over to those who were "prepared to defend the Republic".
  • 19 May: A series of bomb alerts caused serious disruption in Belfast. Telephoned warnings, allegedly from the CIRA, claimed bombs had been left in several locations including the BBC studios at Broadcasting House. British Army bomb disposal experts carried out several controlled explosions before declaring the area safe.
  • 31 October: The CIRA claimed responsibility for planting a pipe bomb outside Castlewellan RUC base in County Down. It was hidden under a traffic cone and badly injured an RUC officer.
  • 17 December: The CIRA was believed to have been responsible for leaving a booby-trap pipe bomb on a mountain road in Kilcoo, County Down. A telephoned warning was sent and the bomb was defused by security forces.

    2001

  • 19 July: A bomb was thrown from a car and up to six shots fired during an attack on Castlewellan RUC base in County Down. The station suffered minor damage but there were no injuries.
  • 2 August: Former Social Democratic and Labour Party MLA Eamonn O'Neill's family car was daubed with CIRA slogans in Castlewellan, County Down after O'Neill criticised a CIRA attack on the village's RUC base several weeks previously.
  • 30 October: Two gunmen, claiming to be from the CIRA, hijacked a bus in Belfast and ordered the driver to drive to Woodbourne RUC base. The men fled leaving a holdall estimated to contain 5 kg of explosives. The security forces tried to defuse the bomb but it exploded during the operation. Damage was restricted to the bus and the gates of the base, and there were no injuries.
  • 16 December: The CIRA claimed responsibility for exploding a small bomb outside a Customs and Excise office on the Killyhevlin Industrial Estate in County Fermanagh. A telephoned warning had been sent. The office was unmanned at the time and there were no injuries.

    2002

  • 21 January: The CIRA was linked to a gun attack in a pub in Ardglass, County Down. Two masked gunmen entered the pub and fired shots into the ceiling before leaving. It was claimed that they were searching for a leading member of a rival republican group, intent on killing him.
  • 9 April: The CIRA claimed responsibility for a car that was found abandoned by police with maps and empty fertiliser bags.
  • 17 April: The CIRA claimed responsibility for exploding a bomb at a police training college in Belfast. The blast damaged gates and fencing.
  • 22 April: police intercepted a van bomb in Belfast they believed was to be used in attack on the headquarters of the Ulster Unionist Party. The CIRA was blamed.
  • 24 July: The CIRA claimed responsibility for exploding a bomb on the estate of Unionist peer Alan Brooke. A small crater was found after a three-day search of the estate at Brookeborough, County Fermanagh.
  • 2 September: The CIRA was blamed for a gun attack on PSNI and British Army personnel in Downpatrick, County Down. Up to five shots were fired as they searched houses in the Model Farm Estate. Nobody was injured.
  • 25 October: The CIRA was blamed for leaving a van bomb near Windsor House in Belfast. A telephone warning was sent. Witnesses reported a muffled explosion came from the van shortly before the arrival of bomb disposal experts, who then carried out a controlled explosion.