NORAID, officially the Irish Northern Aid Committee, is an Irish American membership organization founded after the start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in 1969. The organization states its mission is to aid in the creation of a United Ireland in the spirit of the 1916 Easter Proclamation and to support the Northern Ireland Peace process. During the Troubles, NORAID was known for raising funds for the Provisional Irish Republican Army and Nationalist relief groups such as Green Cross and An Cumann Cabrach. NORAID runs a newsletter titled The Irish People which provides analysis and coverage of ongoing events in Northern Ireland. Mission statement Irish Northern Aid is an American based membership organization that supports through peaceful means, the establishment of a socialist and democratic 32-county Ireland. Our Strategy: To develop a broad coalition of supporters for Irish Unity through organizing and educating the public, our members, political leaders, and the media. To support the current Peace Process, including the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement which was endorsed by the vast majority of the Irish people. To support a process of National reconciliation and equality for all the citizens of Ireland. Membership: In keeping with the principles of the 1916 Proclamation, Irish Northern Aid is open to anyone who shares these values. History NORAID was organized and directed by Irish immigrant Michael Flannery, who in the 1920s was a member of the IRA North Tipperary Brigade. To collect funds, NORAID organized dinner dances, donations in Irish bars, and direct-mail appeals for support in humanitarian relief in Ireland during the Troubles. NORAID officials maintained that its money went to two Irish relief organizations, Green Cross (founded in 1973) and An Cumann Cabrach (founded in November 1953), to help families of imprisoned or dead Irish nationalists. However, Unionist politicians and the British, Irish and United States governments accused NORAID of being a front for the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), and that it was involved in fundraising for IRA arms importation from North America since the early 1970s. This accusation has always been denied by NORAID. NORAID's former leader, Martin Galvin, was banned from the United Kingdom in the 1980s. The charge was also disputed by historian Ed Moloney who stated that the funds raised by NORAID went largely to the families of imprisoned IRA volunteers, and that Clan na Gael was the principal financial backer of the IRA. In