A wise man once said 'Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel' - in other words 'criminal scumbags will wave a flag to make people think they are patriots whilst lining their own pockets through organised crime'. The IRA have committed more armed robberies, smuggled more fuel and cigarettes, operated more brothels, extorted from more legitimate businessmen and dealt more drugs than any other paramilitary group or crime gang in Irish history. Whilst they pretend they are brave Irish patriots defending their people the leadership of the IRA has amassed millions in foreign bank accounts and all of it's senior leaders have huge property portfolios and significant business interests. The only difference between the IRA and the Italian mafia or Colombian cartels is that the Irish people are stupid enough to fall for the patriotism ruse.