Real IRA, Northern Irish Terror Group, Threatens Bankers

Northern Irish militant group Real I.R.A., an offshoot of the Irish Republican Army, has turned its violent focus on bankers and banks, in response to popular hostility against the financial community, spokespeople told The Guardian.

The group, which The Guardian says has 100 activists, pointed to its "track record of attacking high-profile economic targets" in the U.K. In 2000 and 2001, Real I.R.A. activists set off bombs at London cars and a post office.

In what The Guardian says is the group's first public threat against the financial community, the Real I.R.A. called bankers "criminals" and said the recent cycle of bailouts and bonuses was "essentially a crime spree that benefits a social elite at the expense of many millions of victims."

In 1990, the Provisional I.R.A. bombed the London Stock Exchange, and in 1996, it bombed Canary Wharf, the London business district. Both incidents occurred before the Real I.R.A. splintered off in 1997. But "security sources," reports The Guardian, don't think the newer group has the resources to launch what the newspaper calls "large-scale bombings."

Violence, which could include "punishment shootings and expulsions," the Real I.R.A. told The Guardian, is "a last resort to protect the community."

Yesterday, Derek Barnett, president of the Police Superintendents' Association of England and Wales, told the Telegraph that austere fiscal policy could cause "disaffection, social and industrial tensions."

Such unrest, albeit to a much less violent degree than threatened by the Real I.R.A., has already been raging in Greece, where prime minister George Papandreou is sticking firmly to a policy of austerity in the face of that country's severe economic woes. Protesters also took to the streets in France last week, anticipating what the AP called a "season of strikes."

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story indicated that the attacks in 1990 and 1996 were carried out by the Real I.R.A. This version now reflects that they were done by the Provisional I.R.A.

Comments

[MaxHeadroom]

07:51 AM on 09/17/2010

Funny at first read, but I think these are serious folks who just want to play with guns, and cause other mayhem for their own personal agenda: It has nothing to do with national politics.

[SolarArray]

01:42 AM on 09/17/2010

Not a good time to tell people you are a banker. How times have changed.

[judiNJ]

04:25 PM on 09/16/2010

Hey, now THERE is an idea!

[knosiswar]

01:58 PM on 09/16/2010

Tell them their home HQ is in Basel, Switzerland. They are the B.I.S.

This is a map of their worldwide footprint; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BIS_members.svg

[Marcus Aurelius]

07:15 AM on 09/16/2010

Give me a break. This bunch of criminals just want to justify their continued existence of drug running and terror. So they come up with what they hope is a populist statement. There might be a few heated comments about bankers in this country but actually killing them is beyond the pale for any decent human being.

More on their criminal track record:
http://rulehibernia.com/2010/09/real-ira-threaten-to-bomb-british-banks/

[pgrlights]

07:07 AM on 09/16/2010

Maybe we could use a few of them over here..clean this mess up in a hurry..in China they put billionaires in jail at the drop of any impropriety..we could use that too

[givesflack]

07:02 PM on 09/15/2010

the Bankers are the real criminals, that's why they are so revered in the Free Market. It's a battle and it had to start somewhere by somebody.

[Jim Krow]

05:08 PM on 09/15/2010

Gang rivalry

[Raccoon1]

04:51 PM on 09/15/2010

Good Christians, all.

[TexasDem0]

03:50 PM on 09/15/2010

There's a stark contrast. In the U.S. criminal bankers get bailouts and golden parachutes.

[KarolinaReiss]

02:44 PM on 09/15/2010

The financial industry need to seriously re-evaluate how it treats the public. The anger will only continue and get more fortified as more individuals face the brink of financial extinction. As long as the CEOs and executive suites act arrogantly, their firms' public perception will further deteriorate and threats will become more common. The level of corporate detachment from the real world can be overcome by actually listening to your consumers and communicating with them more effectively. www.reissomnimediagroup.com

[judiNJ]

04:27 PM on 09/16/2010

Yes, but when do the roaring hordes turn their attention to the big banks and big business? They are expending all their fury on the only entity that is paying their Social Security and Medicare.

[StopMakingSense2]

02:39 PM on 09/15/2010

Are they for hire? Only problem would be when they blow up wall street and christians try and build a community center a couple blocks from it we will have to fake our outrage too..

[Firbolg]

02:22 PM on 09/15/2010

"In 1990, the Real I.R.A. bombed the London Stock Exchange, and in 1996, it bombed Canary Wharf, the London business district."
Not so.
The Real IRA was not formed until 1997.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Irish_Republican_Army

[RobertFromMN]

02:12 AM on 09/22/2010

Shows how much these "journalists" know their subject. Take the rest with a grain of salt.

[Firbolg]

09:36 AM on 09/22/2010

The rest is fairly accurate as far as I know. There was always, is now and probably always will remain a faction within nationalists that believes that paramilitary actions must continue until the island of Ireland is united and independent.

[jcaunter]

02:11 PM on 09/15/2010

Real change has to start from the bottom up, since the criminals control all the levers of power, and them to insulate themselves from the consequences of their crimes. It's almost time for the workers of the world to storm the Bastille and put these crooks in the guillotine.

[KarolinaReiss]

02:05 PM on 09/15/2010

The financial industry does not understand the anger of the middle class and has been perceived as arrogant and condescending even after the financial meltdown two years ago, never imagining that such serious and tangible threats would become reality. It saddens me that individuals resort to such violence but the anger can be blinding. The entire financial industry needs to seriously re-think how it treats the public and work very diligently on improving its brand perception. They have a long way to go. www.reissomnimediagroup.com

[DannyGlover]

01:52 PM on 09/16/2010

What do you suggest they do? People are upset because they made bad financial decisions. Do you want banks to give people free money? What do you expect them to do?