CIRA leaders ousted, claim hardliners
THE leadership of the dissident republican group responsible for the murder of PSNI constable Stephen Carroll has been overthrown by hardliners, it has been claimed.
Members of the Continuity IRA, which itself split from the Provisional IRA in the mid-1980s, told The Irish Times that they had assumed charge of the terror group.
Representatives of the self-styled new CIRA army council admitted to the paper that they were not yet capable of mounting a sustained campaign of violence, but vowed to "take opportunities when they present themselves".
One of four members who spoke to the paper said: "We intend to consolidate as a new guerrilla movement, we intend to recruit, to train and to equip for a long struggle.
The four members claimed that the vast majority of the terror group's members rejected what they described as the "old guard" who were "tired, weary, old men who are refusing to hand over the reins".
The members alleged that the paramilitary organisation's former leaders had not given "volunteers the required materials for them to do their job", seemingly a euphemistic reference to a lack of weapons and explosives.
One of the members said: "It is a takeover of the movement by the volunteers. It is a takeover of the military end of things."
The members alleged financial irregularities and corruption among other members and claimed that the CIRA's former leaders had effectively "wound down" the group.
One of the members denied that the CIRA had fomented the rioting at the Twelfth of July parade in Ardoyne, but claimed that its members had been among those who took part in the illegal sit-down protest on the road.
At the time, those involved in the protest had chanted that they were engaged in "peaceful protest".
And, contradicting what several Ardoyne residents and Sinn Fein representatives said after the rioting -- that it was not wanted, he added: "The Continuity IRA had members in the crowd but were not involved in the trouble. Violence continued because residents did not want it stopped, they were so angry over the Orange parade."
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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