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Paramilitary finances in the Troubles
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Paramilitary finances in the Troubles
In order to finance their armed campaigns during the Troubles (1969–1998), both Irish republican and Ulster loyalist paramilitaries engaged in numerous fundraising activities within Ireland and the United Kingdom, such as bank robbery, extortion, drug trafficking, bootleg recording, racketeering, and legitimate businesses such as social clubs, taxi companies, and retail shops. They also received finances from overseas, with the Republican paramilitaries being given the most support.
The overwhelming bulk of the revenue provided for the paramilitaries throughout the conflict came from criminal and legitimate activities across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain. These funds were used to purchase weapons overseas and parts to manufacture homemade firearms and explosives, pay their volunteers and families of imprisoned activists, and for political, public relations, and community activities. While overseas donations were generally appreciated, they were mostly small and did not really impact any tactical or political decisions on the paramilitaries.
The Provisional Irish Republican Army ran legitimate or semi-legitimate-owned businesses which included private security firms, the black taxi cabs in Belfast (one co-operative of over 300 taxis located on Falls Road was estimated to have had an annual income of about US$1 million.[citation needed] They also include at least two known hackney cab services in Dublin, construction firms, shops, restaurants, courier services, guest houses, cars and machinery, pubs which at one time or another have included two small pubs in Finglas, County Dublin, two in Coolock, also in Dublin with several more in the city centre, three in Letterkenny, County Donegal, three in Cork (including one Cork hotel), and more small pubs 'scattered about the country.[citation needed]
One IRA interviewee stated that starting in the 1970s:
Belfast ran itself for years on its [social] clubs. You know the clubs? They formed the clubs, earlier on they formed it and ... the car parks, you know, not building them but taking over areas and running them as car parks. There was no one to say how much you took in and how much you took out and so, you know, if there was twenty-thousand coming in every week you could say there's twelve-thousand coming in and then there's eight-thousand going one way, and you paid your people and say there's so much going every week. And that financed the movement.
By 1978, after brothels and massage parlours had multiplied tenfold,[citation needed] the paramilitary groups saw their potential as sources of revenue. The Provisional IRA had begun to use the earnings from some establishments to buy arms and explosives. Paramilitary-run pubs were established in the wake of civil disorder across Northern Ireland, initially functioning to provide safe areas for local communities to congregate. Over 20 Republican-controlled drinking clubs soon evolved into major fund-raising fronts[citation needed], with clubs like “The Felons” allegedly handing over a large proportion of the profits to PIRA. Whilst many of the IRA-run clubs became “legalized,” they nonetheless “all ran two sets of books”’ to obscure the diversion of funds to IRA-affiliated organizations, as well as to hide the extent of their illicit profiteering.[citation needed]
British professors Isabel Woodford and M.L.R. Smith estimated that £1,444,000 per year came from IRA-run associated clubs in the 1970s. In March 1997, The Irish Times reported that "IRA has acquired the services of senior professional figures, including an accountant and banker, in Dublin to oversee the acquisition and running of up to 20 public houses and the laundering of money."
Black taxies were also significantly profitable for the IRA, including the Falls Road Black Taxis service, which attracted former IRA prisoners. The Sunday Times reported in 1995 that over £750,000 per year came from IRA black taxies. Neil Southern wrote that:
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Paramilitary finances in the Troubles
In order to finance their armed campaigns during the Troubles (1969–1998), both Irish republican and Ulster loyalist paramilitaries engaged in numerous fundraising activities within Ireland and the United Kingdom, such as bank robbery, extortion, drug trafficking, bootleg recording, racketeering, and legitimate businesses such as social clubs, taxi companies, and retail shops. They also received finances from overseas, with the Republican paramilitaries being given the most support.
The overwhelming bulk of the revenue provided for the paramilitaries throughout the conflict came from criminal and legitimate activities across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain. These funds were used to purchase weapons overseas and parts to manufacture homemade firearms and explosives, pay their volunteers and families of imprisoned activists, and for political, public relations, and community activities. While overseas donations were generally appreciated, they were mostly small and did not really impact any tactical or political decisions on the paramilitaries.
The Provisional Irish Republican Army ran legitimate or semi-legitimate-owned businesses which included private security firms, the black taxi cabs in Belfast (one co-operative of over 300 taxis located on Falls Road was estimated to have had an annual income of about US$1 million.[citation needed] They also include at least two known hackney cab services in Dublin, construction firms, shops, restaurants, courier services, guest houses, cars and machinery, pubs which at one time or another have included two small pubs in Finglas, County Dublin, two in Coolock, also in Dublin with several more in the city centre, three in Letterkenny, County Donegal, three in Cork (including one Cork hotel), and more small pubs 'scattered about the country.[citation needed]
One IRA interviewee stated that starting in the 1970s:
Belfast ran itself for years on its [social] clubs. You know the clubs? They formed the clubs, earlier on they formed it and ... the car parks, you know, not building them but taking over areas and running them as car parks. There was no one to say how much you took in and how much you took out and so, you know, if there was twenty-thousand coming in every week you could say there's twelve-thousand coming in and then there's eight-thousand going one way, and you paid your people and say there's so much going every week. And that financed the movement.
By 1978, after brothels and massage parlours had multiplied tenfold,[citation needed] the paramilitary groups saw their potential as sources of revenue. The Provisional IRA had begun to use the earnings from some establishments to buy arms and explosives. Paramilitary-run pubs were established in the wake of civil disorder across Northern Ireland, initially functioning to provide safe areas for local communities to congregate. Over 20 Republican-controlled drinking clubs soon evolved into major fund-raising fronts[citation needed], with clubs like “The Felons” allegedly handing over a large proportion of the profits to PIRA. Whilst many of the IRA-run clubs became “legalized,” they nonetheless “all ran two sets of books”’ to obscure the diversion of funds to IRA-affiliated organizations, as well as to hide the extent of their illicit profiteering.[citation needed]
British professors Isabel Woodford and M.L.R. Smith estimated that £1,444,000 per year came from IRA-run associated clubs in the 1970s. In March 1997, The Irish Times reported that "IRA has acquired the services of senior professional figures, including an accountant and banker, in Dublin to oversee the acquisition and running of up to 20 public houses and the laundering of money."
Black taxies were also significantly profitable for the IRA, including the Falls Road Black Taxis service, which attracted former IRA prisoners. The Sunday Times reported in 1995 that over £750,000 per year came from IRA black taxies. Neil Southern wrote that: