The World - News from Jan. 26, 1989

A serious internal dispute has engulfed the Irish Republican Army because its most ruthless unit apparently has refused to obey the leadership’s order to disband, London newspapers reported. The Times of London and the Independent, quoting IRA sources, said the order to disband followed the unit’s senseless killing of Protestant civilians. The Times said the unit was behind the bombing of a World War II memorial service at Enniskillen in Northern Ireland on Nov. 8, 1987, that killed 11 Protestants. The IRA later apologized for that attack and said it was a mistake. The unit, which is believed to have seven members and which has ties to the Irish National Liberation Army, a breakaway Marxist rival of the IRA, will likely continue operating as a renegade group, the Times of London said.