Ireland worried that the US labeling the Real IRA as terrorists would aid recruitment

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Irish officials were concerned that a US decision to designate the Real IRA (RIRA) as a foreign terrorist organization could help recruit the paramilitary group.

Just a few years after the signing of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the US was planning to add the RIRA to the list of foreign terrorist organizations.

In a briefing note to then-Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern in early 2001, officials warned that “the designation could inadvertently give a boost to dissident republicans by enhancing their standing in the eyes of US republican supporters and that encourage recruitment”.

The memo came ahead of Mr Ahern’s visit to then US President George W Bush in Washington, DC in March as part of the annual St John’s Day celebrations. Patrick.

The filing also notes that “the primary legal effects of the designation relate to prohibitions on fundraising, freezing of existing funds, and denial of visas to or exclusion from the US of representatives of a designated organization.”

Documents handed to the National Archives in Dublin show that, despite reservations, Irish and British authorities acknowledged that adding the RIRA to the list would also have benefits.

In October 2000, then Justice Minister John O’Donoghue and then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Mandelson agreed that the matter would be discussed further by An Garda Siochana and the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

The report by the RUC’s watchdog and chief constable concluded that, in general, “it would make operational sense for the organization to be designated” a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) as this would “place additional legal powers at the disposal of law enforcement officials the Act dealing with (RIRA)’.

Based on this report, the Irish and British governments decided on 24 November 2000 to jointly request the US authorities to begin the designation process.

At the time of Mr. Ahern’s visit the following March, the US State Department was seeking legal advice on the matter.

The US finally added RIRA to the official list of FTOs in May 2001.

Later that year, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, US officials wrote to the governments of various countries, including Ireland, asking them to freeze the assets of groups on the FTO list.

John B Taylor, then US Secretary of State for International Affairs, sent a fax to John Hurley, then Secretary-General at the Department of Finance, on 1 November 2001, requesting that the RIRA’s assets in Ireland be frozen.

“Please let me know as soon as possible whether or not you will be able to join the United States by a simultaneous blockade,” Mr. Taylor wrote.

“If not, please let me know when you take blocking action against these terrorists.

“Thank you for your continued cooperation in the global effort to combat the financing of terrorism.”

The Oireachtas subsequently passed the Criminal (Terrorist Offences) Act 2002 to strengthen Ireland’s ability to respond to terrorism, including freezing assets.

– This article is based on documents 2022/49/125 and 2022/49/40.