I know in the 80s the IRA sent guys to NY and America to buy bulk weapons, I wondered if they approached any mob guys but it doesn't look like it. I am not surprised at all about alleged IRA links with Italy, some of these real IRA members are basically just gangsters.
Doubt it. Gerry McGeough - who I believe is anti-Good Friday Agreement - was one of the guys sent to procure weapons in the 80s and he bought the bulk of them legally in Florida and smuggled them into Ireland. They more heavy duty gear - anti-aircraft machine guns and SAM missiles - was procured through contacts in New Orleans. I think I remember reading that they were South American or something. It was on one of these missions that they were caught in an FBI sting. McGeough fled successfully but was eventually caught abroad and returned to America to serve his time. I forget the name of the older volunteer who was caught in the same sting - he initialled tried to swap himself with one of the undercover agents so that in the event of it being a trap he knew 'that someone was going in a fucking hole' over it.
