text:  The Irish Republican Army ( IRA ) had been inactive militarily since the end of the Border Campaign in 1962 . It was low in both personnel and equipment — Chief of Staff <unk> <unk> told <unk> <unk> and Paddy Doherty in August 1969 that he " couldn 't defend the <unk> . I haven 't the men nor the guns to do it . " During the 1960s the leadership of the republican movement had moved to the left . Its focus was on class struggle and its aim was to unite the Irish nationalist and unionist working classes in order to overthrow capitalism , both British and Irish . Republican <unk> were formed in Northern Ireland , where <unk> <unk> was proscribed . These clubs were involved in the formation of <unk> in 1967 . In Derry , the James <unk> Republican Club worked closely with Labour Party radicals , with whom they set up the Derry Housing Action Committee and Derry <unk> Action Committee . The Derry Citizens ' Defence Association was formed initially by <unk> , who then invited other nationalists to join . Although there were tensions between the younger leaders like <unk> White and the older , traditional <unk> such as <unk> <unk> , both sides saw the unrest of 1968 @-@ 69 as a chance to advance republican aims , and the two shared the platform at the Easter Rising commemoration in April 1969 . 
  