The Provisional Irish Republican Army (commonly referred to as the Irish Republican Army or IRA) was an organization dedicated to the end of British rule in North Ireland, and to unite the island as a single nation. It was formed in 1969, when the group formerly called the Irish Republican Army was splintered over the issue of the use of violence to bring about Irish reunification. Members of the Provisional IRA were sometimes called "Provos".
The IRA became obsolete by the end of the Eugenics Wars, when England withdrew from Ireland. However, some members who knew no other way of life persisted, and the rise of United Earth helped to bring other throwbacks to the movement. One such person was a man codenamed Easter, who aligned himself with an array of terrorists of differing ideologies in an Eastern European cell in the 2040s. (TOS novel: Strangers from the Sky)
- The TNG episode: "The High Ground" established that the reunification of Ireland did not occur until 2024, and happened as a direct result of terrorist activity, presumably by the IRA. In reality, an IRA cease fire has largely held since 1998, though the political status of Northern Ireland is yet unsettled.
