# % of the IRA's funding from Americans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 25, 2001, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-the-iras-funding-from-americans/83790 "2001-09-25T21:36:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-the-iras-funding-from-americans/83790/21 "2001-10-02T17:31:06Z")
Nostradamus, I haven’t been following all the news on the Bin Laden-related freezings, so I’m a bit reluctant to comment on them. But I think it’s quite possible that the US government **is** in breach of the First as well as the Fifth Amendment if political contributions are being outlawed and money confiscated without actual evidence that it is being used in the manner the US government says it is. One can certainly argue that if so, it is a minor breach justified by the imminent threat Bin Laden’s group poses. It would be absolutely asinine to claim that the IRA is currently posing such a threat. Remember to compare like with like, OK? ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-the-iras-funding-from-americans/83790/22 "2001-10-02T18:20:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TomH \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by EJsGirl \* > > Really? Why is it that I’ve never heard that or seen it widely reported? Cite, please? > > The IRA’s involvement in extortion _has_ been widely reported, as has that of its Loyalist counterparts. Why you haven’t seen it, I don’t know. As **ruadh** says, the paramilitaries’ involvement in drug dealing is largely confined to extorting money from drug dealers, rather than dealing in drugs directly (though you could argue that this is a nice distinction). I believe that this has been confirmed by Ronnie Flanagan, but I can’t find a cite. > > The obvious place to look for an answer to the OP, of course, would be in the IRA’s Annual Report and audited accounts. But for some reason I can’t seem to find it on-line. \*\* Bit late coming to this thread, but here you go: From Time Magazine [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/intl/article/0,9171,1107990816-29993,00.html](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/intl/article/0,9171,1107990816-29993,00.html) > [@](#): > > Paul Wilkinson, professor of international relations and an expert on terrorism at Scotland’s St. Andrews University, believes it could be both. “ **The vast majority of organized crime in Northern Ireland is controlled or orchestrated or contributed to by the paramilitaries** ” he says. “In other respects, Northern Ireland is an extraordinarily law-abiding community. If you were to try to separate those areas of criminal activity that are quite independent of terrorist mafias, you would find they were disproportionately small compared with the levels of crime in a similar-sized community in other parts of Britain.” I realise this doesn’t give the percentage the IRA (or indeed any other paramilitary group) gains from illegal activities as opposed to fund-raising, but I think we can assume from this piece that it is likely to be a significant amount…? – Quirm ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-the-iras-funding-from-americans/83790/23 "2001-10-02T19:22:39Z")
Not really. The writer is discussing paramilitary-led criminal activity as a percentage of criminal activity _as a whole_ in Northern Ireland. All that says is that they dominate the market (not surprising, since they clearly have the means to eliminate the competition - literally). It doesn’t tell you anything about how much money they’re making from it - and even on the assumption it’s a fair amount, that _still_ doesn’t tell you anything about how it compares to their other sources of funding. Reading the piece as a whole it does confirm what Tom and I have both said about the specific involvement of various paramilitary groups. Though I’ll add that any piece that uses Vincent McKenna as a source of information has to be treated with some caution. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-the-iras-funding-from-americans/83790/24 "2001-10-02T20:11:19Z")
A lot of Americans fund IRA’s. Especially when they have to do a rollover from a 401(k). ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-the-iras-funding-from-americans/83790/25 "2001-10-03T00:27:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*Originally posted by ruadh \*\* > \*Nostradamus, I haven’t been following all the news on the Bin Laden-related freezings, so I’m a bit reluctant to comment on them. But I think it’s quite possible that the US government **is** in breach of the First as well as the Fifth Amendment if political contributions are being outlawed and money confiscated without actual evidence that it is being used in the manner the US government says it is. One can certainly argue that if so, it is a minor breach justified by the imminent threat Bin Laden’s group poses. It would be absolutely asinine to claim that the IRA is currently posing such a threat. Remember to compare like with like, OK? \* **Ruadh** , what you say about imminence is true. But the US have never been vulnerable to IRA action whereas the British were, and quite recently, a target for IRA action. This doesn’t alter the basic principle behind my argument. It does not require the services of a rocket scientist to check suspicious accounts and freeze them. In so saying, I appreciate that I have referred to the IRA in this matter without mentioning the other paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland. For the avoidance of doubt, I don’t approve of any of them. Not in the least. The difference is, as far as I am aware, that the US is not a source of funding for these other groups. What worries me is the Peace Process going completely pear-shaped and monies currently being collected in the US (or anywhere else) being used for arms. If I recall correctly, there have been hiatus in the armed conflict in Northern Ireland before now, albeit not underpinned by a peace agreement, but it would not be the biggest surprise in the world if terrorist action was resumed for one reason or another. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-the-iras-funding-from-americans/83790.md?page=1)