Continuity Irish Republican Army. Also known as the Continuity Army Council, Volunteers of Ireland and the Republican Sinn Fein.

Northern Ireland. The Continuity IRA (CIRA) is active mainly in Belfast and the border with the Republic of Ireland.

The CIRA seeks a united republican Ireland.

The U.S. State Dept. estimates the number of "hard-core" members of the CIRA to be about 50. Some CIRA members have been convicted of criminal charges, and police counterterrorist operations have also reduced the group's strength. The CIRA continues to recruit new members, though it has had limited success in recent years. The group has also attempted to develop a youth wing.

Sympathizers in the U.S. are suspected of providing financial assistance to the CIRA. The group also may have obtained weapons from the Balkans. The CIRA cooperates with the larger Real IRA (RIRA) and to some extent with the Irish National Liberation Army.

The Continuity IRA has been involved in kidnapping, assassinations, hijackings, extortion, bombings, robberies, drug-dealing, smuggling and prostitution. CIRA targets include U.K. military forces, Northern Ireland police and Loyalist paramilitaries. The CIRA occasionally warns police of impending attacks.

In 1994, the Continuity IRA broke away from the Irish Republican Army (IRA) to continue the terrorist campaign against the U.K. The group started as the secret wing of the Republican Sinn Fein, which broke from Sinn Fein in 1986.The IRA itself signed the Good Friday peace accords in 1998.

The CIRA, along with the Real IRA, has refused to sign the peace agreement.

The CIRA's continuing militant activities, while prompting concern, are not generally expected to undercut the peace process. The group's attacks on police personnel could have an effect on the strength of security forces.

1986
The Republican Sinn Fein broke away from the Sinn Fein. The CIRA began operations as the clandestine wing of the Republican Sinn Fein.

1994
The CIRA broke away from the IRA.

1996
July 14: The CIRA was blamed for the bombing of the Killyhevlin Hotel in Enniskillen.

1998
April 10: The IRA signed the Good Friday peace accords with the United Kingdom. The CIRA refused to sign.

2003
The CIRA was held responsible for a string of low-level bomb attacks in Northern Ireland throughout the year.

2004
July 13: The U.S. State Dept. added the CIRA to its list of designated foreign terrorist groups.

2005
Jan. 1: The CIRA attempted to firebomb the Grosvenor police station in West Belfast. Police were able to defuse the bomb in a taxi before it detonated.

May 24: Northern Ireland's Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) released the findings of its investigation that said that the CIRA had reorganized its leadership structure and was training new members in the use of firearms and explosives. It was seen to be involved in crime and paramilitarism. "As before, we believe it is a dangerous organization capable of serious, if sporadic, attacks," said the commission report. "It has no interest in cease-fire and we believe that it plans to continue to engage in terrorism and other crimes, possibly more than in the recent past."

2006
Feb: The IMC reported that two groups had been formed after a split in the Continuity IRA.

May: Britain's domestic counterintelligence and security agency, MI5, was ordered to devote 20 percent of its resources to tackling the potential threat of IRA splinter groups in Northern Ireland, including CIRA. MI5 took over counterterrorism responsibility in Northern Ireland from the Police Service in early 2007.

2007
March 12: CIRA members murdered two former members who had formed a rival group in Belfast. A third person was injured in the attack.

April 17: Two suspected CIRA members were charged with conspiring to kill police and soldiers in an aborted mortar attack. During a security sweep in Northern Ireland on April 5, police discovered an unused mortar, shell, batteries and bomb-related electronic equipment.

August: CIRA members attacked police officers with gasoline bombs in the Lurgan area. About 400 pounds of homemade explosives believed to belong to the CIRA was discovered by the Police Service in Craigavon, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

October: CIRA members organized youths to stone Police Service officers during search operations in the County Armagh town of Craigavon.

November 11: A CIRA explosive device was detonated at a war memorial in Newry in Northern Ireland; there were no casualties.

2008
Jan. 2: CIRA militants fired a volley of shots over the grave of Dan Keating, the former Republican Sinn Fein (RSF) president. The action took place at the Kiltallagh Cemetery on Keating's 106th birthday. RSF is a splinter group of the Sinn Fein party.

February: Weapons, ammunition and other terrorist equipment were confiscated in the Northern Ireland city of Newry. Several CIRA members were arrested. CIRA members helped organize youths to stone Police Service officers during these search operations.

April: Three CIRA members were arrested and charged with conspiracy to murder, possession of explosives with intent to endanger life and possession of articles for use in terrorism. An improvised mortar was found adjacent to the railway line in Lurgan, in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The group was involved in a number of assaults during the month.

June: CIRA operatives targeted a police patrol with an explosive device detonated by a command wire. No serious injuries were reported.

July 19: CIRA threatened to attack civil servants from Northern Ireland's Driver and Vehicle Agency for cooperating with the police.
 
Aug. 16: Militants attempted to attack a police patrol in Lisnaskea using rocket grenades. While CIRA and other groups all claimed responsibility, the Independent Monitoring Commission judged that CIRA was behind the attack. Three officers were treated for minor injuries and shock.

Aug. 25: CIRA hijacked and set fire to vehicles in Craigavon, possibly to lure the police into positions where they could be attacked.
 
August 26: Stones and gasoline bombs were thrown in the Craigavon area. CIRA was responsible, said the monitoring commission.
 
Nov. 5: CIRA claimed responsibility for a bomb attack at a police station in Lurgan in Northern Ireland. No injuries were reported.

Nov. 26: CIRA issued threats against community workers for cooperating with police officers in north Belfast.

2009
Jan. 4: Police arrested five suspected CIRA members in Dublin in connection with the recovery of replica weapons. Those arrested were charged with planning a number of armed robberies to raise funds for the group.

Jan. 14: CIRA destroyed a construction machine at Casement Park, apparently because the operator refused to pay protection money.
 
Feb. 10: Security forces defused three pipe bombs near Falls Road in Belfast. CIRA was believed responsible for planting the bombs.

March 9: CIRA claimed responsibility for shooting a police officer in Craigavon, County Armagh. A sniper shot the officer through the rear window of a police car as the police were investigating a minor incident at a private residence.

June 15: CIRA claimed responsibility for a failed bomb attack against a police base in Armagh.

September: Army experts in Armagh safely dismantled a homemade bomb that included about 600 pounds of explosives. Police said the bomb was intended for an attack against security personnel but could also have hit nearby homes.

October: A car bomb injured a policeman's girlfriend. She was leaving the officer's home, less than half a mile from police headquarters in Belfast, at the time of the incident.

Nov. 20: CIRA claimed responsibility for shooting a man several times in the leg in Belfast.

2010
Feb. 23: Security forces blamed dissident republicans for detonating a 250-pound car bomb outside the Newry courthouse. Nobody was killed or injured in the attack, which took place after telephone warnings.

March 8: An RSF representative and affiliate of CIRA objected to the proposed appointment of a new justice minister in Northern Ireland. Geraldine Taylor, the vice-president of RSF, said the Republican Movement -- a term incorporating RSF and CIRA -- would regard the minister as an "enemy of the Irish people."

May 10: Two Irish Republican Army dissidents were arrested in Derry and Strabane in Northern Ireland; three others were seized in Newry. In the republic of Ireland, two other suspects were arrestedin the Dundalk area. Some of those arrested were linked to CIRA, and suspected of involvement in a series of bomb attacks.