ABSTRACT
The terrorist group political front has been an understudied phenomena in the field of terrorism studies. This chapter outlines the evolution and roles of political fronts in the Northern Ireland context, particularly those associated with the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), though clearly the emergence and functions of the anti-state Sinn Féin have been very different to those of the pro-state Loyalist fronts.
