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For the past 36 years, the Irish Republican Army has been waging an armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland. The IRA has been fighting the British Army and security forces as well as pro-British paramilitary groups as it tried to reach its ultimate goal, a united Ireland. More than 3,600 people have been killed during the past three decades that have come to be known as "The Troubles".
    In a statement released at the end of July, the IRA said it has formally ordered an end to its armed campaign. It instructed its units, in the statement’s words, "to dump arms" and said IRA members must now focus on "purely political and democratic programs through exclusively peaceful means." The statement also called on IRA volunteers not to engage in "any other activities."
    The British and Irish governments welcomed the IRA decision, but in Northern Ireland, reaction was mixed, split along sectarian lines. Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA reacted positively while the largest pro-British party—the Democratic Unionists—urged caution.