Quote:
Originally Posted by Checkman
Interesting.I wonder what the figure was was addressing? I wish I could remeber where I read that info.
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If I had to guess, probably it was referring to the PIRA's South Armagh Brigade only. South Armagh was pretty much the hardest area for the British Army and the RUC to control. Both the PIRA and UVF cells in that province were relatively few in number compared to Belfast or Derry, yet the British had more troops there in the 1980s and 1990s than anywhere else, and more trouble pacifying it than anywhere else.
It wouldn't surprise me if the South Armagh Brigade had only about 30-40 members by the 1990s because that province is so lightly populated. On the other hand, a higher proportion of the people there supported the paramilitaries than in Belfast or Derry. This, combined with the fact that it's a rural area, made it pretty hard to find the IRA and UVF members within the population.
BTW, South Armagh Brigade was also responsible for carrying out the sniper campaign of the 1990s, where they used Barrett .50-caliber rifles against British personnel.