Can someone tell me what happened in Northern Ireland?

[jetxl]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7935734.stm#map
So saturday 2 soldiers were shot by the IRA, monday a police man.
I thought the IRA was dead.
Was this a long time coming?

[Sam.]

I have a few irish friends, and they tell me that the IRA is not back at all. It's the same problems that happen all over the world, kids get bored and do stuff, this time they are irish and have a scary name, but it's not the IRA. It's not even the REAL IRA.

I might be wrong, but this is what my northern irish friends have told me they think is happening.

[alex]

Edit: I'll stop trying to stir things up.  I really don't know what the situation is with the recent incident beyond what I have heard on the news.

[Pumaman]

When the IRA disbanded back in 1998, there were a few disgruntled members who didn't want to stop the terrorism and they formed some splinter groups like the "Real IRA" and "Continuity IRA" to carry on doing terrorism.

They have actually attempted attacks quite a few times but usually failed due to bad luck or incompetance, but this week they seem to have had some success.

I don't think this signifies anything in particular, it's just that Northern Ireland had managed to have 10 years without any real terrorist attacks and that's now come to an end.

[Renal Shutdown]

..they formed some splinter groups like the "Real IRA" and "Continuity IRA"..

Not forgetting "IRA 2.0", "All New New IRA", "Diet IRA", and "Caffeine-Free I Can't Believe It's Not The IRA".

[Mr Flibble]

The soldiers who got shot were both British, i think the Pizza delivery man was Polish? He was fired upon to. For "colluding" with the British soldiers.

Collusion back in the day used to mean police-informing and stuff, but apparently now it means pizza delivery. The Real IRA comprises of perhaps 50 members at most by any rough estimate. They're as hardline as ever they were, but the difference between now and 1972 is that there's no public support for this from the Republican community. Martin McGuniness, who was in the IRA and is now Deputy First Minister, has publicly condemned the action. Whether or not he believes that is irrelevant because his public opinion is condemnation, and that's what really matters in politics. So I don't believe that anything new is going to kick off because of these shootings. Unless there's a bombing. If there's a bomb, shit will get real.

This is only a milestone event in that it was soldiers who were targeted. The IRA themselves were still fairly active right up until decommissioning a few years ago. As were the Loyalist paramilitary groups, I hasten to add for the sake of impartiality.

And yes, I'm from Northern Ireland.

[jetxl]

Some unrelated news: German guy shoots up school. Guy in Alabama goes postal on the same day. Belgium guy knifes a few toddlers in a kindergarden a month ago.
Is Cthulhu calling?

[alex]

It's a deviancy amplification spiral.  Check it out on wikipedia sometime.  These things happen when the media focusses on certain elements of society with just the right mix of seasoning and sauces.