Redesignation of the Real IRA as a Foreign Terrorist Organization

The U.S. Department of State announces today the redesignation of the Real IRA (RIRA and other aliases) as a foreign terrorist organization under United States law. That organization was first designated two years ago, and designations last for a two-year period.

The Real IRA is a militant group that seeks to end British rule in Northern Ireland and bring about the political incorporation of Northern Ireland into the Republic of Ireland. RIRA has mounted a campaign of terrorism in an attempt to undermine the Good Friday Accord, signed on April 10, 1998, by the British and Irish governments and most political parties in Northern Ireland. Defying the wishes of the vast majority of people on the island of Ireland, RIRA opposes compromise with the British government or with the Protestant unionist majority in Northern Ireland, which favors keeping Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom. Many of the attacks have coincided with the implementation of the new steps of the Good Friday Accord.

During the past two years, the Real IRA has continued its terrorist activities. The Real IRA claimed responsibility for a February 10, 2003, bomb attack on an East Belfast police station and for a March 13, 2003, attempted bombing at a Belfast courthouse. British security forces have also linked the RIRA to several other attempted bombings. The group attempted to kill several policemen in July 2002 and killed a civilian contractor in August 2002 at a territorial army base in Northern Ireland.

The Real IRA’s terrorist activities threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security of the United States, which includes national defense, foreign relations, and economic interests. The Real IRA has conducted attacks on a variety of public sites in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, including the London subway, a facility often used by U.S. tourists. Thousands of U.S. nationals who visit the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland annually face the risk of becoming victims of Real IRA attacks in public places.

This redesignation of the Real IRA keeps the current number of foreign terrorist organizations at 36. Although the Department reviews designated groups every two years, the Secretary of State is authorized to make new designations at any time, or to revoke a designation at any time if the circumstances have changed in such a manner as to warrant revocation, or if the national security of the United States warrants a revocation, under the procedures set forth in the relevant statute.

The effect of the foreign terrorist organization redesignation is that it remains illegal for U.S. persons or persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States knowingly to provide material support or resources to the Real IRA; requires U.S. financial institutions to continue to take “blocking action” against Real IRA funds, and to report those funds to the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control; and maintains the inadmissibility to the United States of Real IRA representatives and certain members.