evidence: Paramilitary groups were active on both sides of Northern Ireland's political divide, including the IRA, the UDA, the UVF and the INLA. Since the peace process began, several paramilitary splinter groups have continued to operate. [...] At the outset there are two popular misconceptions about the paramilitaries that should be challenged. First, that all were all mindless thugs devoid of any political motivation who got their kicks from killing. This was seldom the case - although there were exceptions. Many were driven to join their respective "struggles" as a result of what they had witnessed or suffered - be it Bloody Sunday or Bloody Friday. The likelihood is that had these young men and women lived in any other part of the United Kingdom, most would never have become involved in violence. [...] The main paramilitary group on the republican side is the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Its roots go back to the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin and the war of independence that led to the partition of Ireland.