ABSTRACT
Northern Ireland is a component part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The use of violence, particularly acts of terror, and attempts to resolve this violence through various peace proposals, are recurring features in the life of Northern Ireland. The Irish Republican Army is considered a secessionist terrorist organization. Throughout its existence, it used violence to achieve its goal of securing the removal of Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and its union with the Republic of Ireland. The British government used other tactics, including legislative measures, to contain the terrorist threat in Northern Ireland. The conflict in Northern Ireland has attracted considerable academic interest, debate, and disagreement. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) conflict with the British state, as is examined in more detail below, extended until the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and ultimately until 2005 when the IRA announced the end of its armed campaign and the final decommissioning of its weapons.
