In 1997 , several members of the South Armagh Brigade , based in Jonesborough and Dromintee , following Michael McKevitt , left the Provisional IRA because of its acceptance of the Mitchell Principles of non-violence at a General Army Convention in October of that year and formed a dissident grouping , the Real IRA , which rejected the peace process . Their discontent was deepened by Sinn Féin 's signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 . Most of the South Armagh IRA stayed within the Provisional movement , but there were reports of them aiding the dissidents throughout 1998 . The Omagh bombing of August 1998 , a botched Real IRA operation which killed 29 civilians , was prepared by dissident republicans in South Armagh . Thomas Murphy and the leadership of the IRA in the area have allegedly since re-asserted their control , expelling dissidents from the district under threat of death . Michael McKevitt and his wife Bernadette were evicted from their home near Dundalk . IRA members in South Armagh ceased cooperating with the RIRA after the Omagh bombing
Omagh bombing
Omagh bombing
Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade