The Provisional IRA has long been associated with sophisticated and organized criminal activities intended to sustain the group and fund its terrorist campaign. Crimes have included numerous thefts from banks, post offices, and even art galleries; kidnapping of wealthy business men and even the champion racehorse Shagar; various forms of extortion; fraud perpetrated against individuals, businesses, the UK government, and even the EU; and money laundering. Initially, these activities were intended to supplement the funds raised from willing supporters, but as the overall level of such contributions has diminished, criminal activities have become far more crucial. Indeed, since the Good Friday peace accord was signed in 1998, it is probable that such criminal activities have become the primary source of funding for the Provisional IRA and by extension the IRA?s political wing, Sinn Fein.

It should, therefore, come as no surprise that the Police Service of Northern Ireland suspects the IRA of carrying out the December 20 theft of $50 million from a Belfast branch of the Northern Bank . The theft bore all of the hallmarks of the IRA, in its daring, its sophistication, the lack of forensic evidence, and the ruthlessness of the tactics employed. The question that needs to be asked is not who carried out this crime, that seems obvious, but why now? The IRA must have known that they would be connected, if only by association, with this crime and that the sheer scale and audacity of the theft would seriously derail the already faltering peace process. The most likely conclusion that can drawn is that they did know and thought the huge gain justified the political risks involved.