The Troubles: estimated IRA income 1978

In 1978, the Provisional IRA was the largest paramilitary organization during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and some sources estimated the organization had an annual income of roughly one million British pounds. The IRA raised funds through a variety of illegal methods, with theft believed to have been responsible for more than half the money raised in 1978. A different, more recent source estimates that, in the 1970s, the IRA had an average annual income well over two million pounds, with money raised through bars and clubs (through skimming, illegal slot machines, or the sale of stolen alcohol and cigarettes) bringing in over one million pounds per year.