In 1992 the IPLO was wiped out by the Provisional IRA, which had become concerned about the IPLO’s drug trafficking in Belfast. The two groups went to war and in 1987 the INLA-IPLO feud claimed at least 11 lives. Pledging to eradicate and replace the INLA, the IPLO assassinated several significant INLA figures. By the early 1980s, the group had split into factions, its interests divided between Belfast and Dublin. In 1986, a group of disgruntled and criminally minded ex-INLA members formed a rival group called the Irish People’s Liberation Organisation (IPLO). The death of Costello and the murder or arrest of other leaders weakened the INLA. In 1977 INLA leader Seamus Costello was shot to death in Dublin by an Official IRA volunteer. The Official IRA-INLA feud claimed five lives in 1975 alone. The Official IRA considered the INLA a destabilising force and attempted to wipe it out in the mid-1970s. The INLA also engaged in running feuds with other Republican groups. Internecine feuds A memorial for four INLA volunteers, three of whom were killed by the IPLO The INLA was also politically active during the 1981 prison hunger strikes three INLA volunteers (Kevin Lynch, Patsy O’Hara and Mickey Devine) were among the ten Republican prisoners who starved themselves to death. The INLA was responsible for the deaths of almost 40 civilians during the Troubles, most caught in the crossfire or mistaken for military targets. Eleven of the dead were soldiers and six were civilians, five of them women. The blast caused the building to collapse and 17 people were killed. The Droppin Well was a popular drinking spot for soldiers from a nearby British Army base – but it was also frequented by civilians from Ballykelly. The INLA carried out its deadliest attack in December 1982, bombing the Droppin Well pub in Ballykelly, County Londonderry. The bomb exploded as Neave drove off, fatally wounding him. In March 1979 INLA volunteers planted a magnetic booby trap under Neave’s car, which was parked near the Houses of Parliament. Its most significant victim was British Conservative politician Airey Neave, a former military officer and adviser to future prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The INLA employed similar tactics to the Provisional IRA: bombings, assassinations, gun raids and sniper attacks. The INLA’s military campaign in the late 1970s and 1980s claimed dozens of lives, including 48 British soldiers or RUC policemen. Despite this, the group was tightly disciplined and quite destructive. ![]() ![]() The INLA was much smaller than the Provisional IRA, at its peak having no more than 150 members. INLA leaders drew inspiration from and aligned with other revolutionaries, such as Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro and the Black Panthers, an African-American socialist group. The INLA declared objective was the expulsion of the British from Northern Ireland and the creation of a unified, socialist Ireland. The group’s paramilitary arm had more impact. It had members elected to two Belfast City Council seats but voting returns in Republic of Ireland elections were dismal. Despite Devlin-McAliskey’s high profile the IRSP failed to attract much public support. ![]() In its first year, the IRSP executive included former Nationalist MP Bernadette Devlin, by then known as Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey.
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