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Irish revolutionary period
During the Irish revolutionary period the Soviets were supportive of Irish efforts to establish a Republic independent of Britain and was the only state to have relations with the Irish Republic.

In Easter 1916 a rebellion against British rule in Ireland took place. Vladimir Lenin spoke of it positively calling it a decisive “blow against the power of English imperialism”. In 1920 Roddy Connolly, the son of the Socialist Republican James Connolly who executed in the aftermath of the Easter Rising visited Lenin in Russia. Lenin informed Connolly that he had read his father’s book "Labour and Irish History" and that he rates him “head and shoulders” above other European socialists.

In 1920 a secret loan deal was reached between the proclaimed Irish Republic and the Soviet Union. Russian crown jewels were given to the Irish Republic in exchange for $20,000, the equivalent of $250,000 today. The jewels were not returned for another three decades.

In 1920 Patrick McCartan travelled to the Soviet Union, hoping to secure formal recognition of the proclaimed Irish Republic however the Soviets refused as they were hoping to improve Anglo-Soviet relations.

Post Irish Revolutionary Period
In the summer of 1925 a three man delegation containing Gerald Boland, Pa Murray (the leader) and Sean Russell traveled to the Soviet Union. They went in the hope of receiving financial support and weaponry. It is said that the Russians asked the delegation "How many bishops did you hang?", when the delegation answered none, they replied, "Ah, you people are not serious at all". Murray had a meeting with Joseph Stalin in which they reached a mutually beneficial agreement. The IRA would spy for the Soviet Union in Britain and America, as well as support their strategic goals and the IRA would receive a monthly payment of £500. The agreement was a very closely guarded secret and reference to it was rarely made in writing, except in secret code, and when it was mentioned it was in a very cryptic way.

Despite this agreement some in the IRA had little regard for the Soviets. Moss Twomey said "these people are so shifty...they are out to exploit us ...Except for our urgent need of cash, I would not be so keen on this [agreement]". Frank Aiken called the Soviets as ‘hopeless bunglers’. In November 1926 the Soviets decreased the monthly payment to £100, citing the quality of work the IRA were doing while but also blaming the financial crisis in the Soviet Union. It took £400 a month to run the IRA so this was a major blow. IRA man Andy Cooney went to London to meet with the Soviet intelligence officer there, but had no success. In order to put pressure on the Soviets, IRA volunteers were ordered to hold back on the intelligence to be supplied. In May 1927 the Soviets handed over £1,000. However eventually the Soviets severed ties with the IRA.

Official IRA
The Official IRA had relations with the Soviet Union, during The Troubles they had been supplied by the Soviets. Assistance from the Soviet Union first occurred in late 1972 when Yuri Andropov who was then then the head of the KGB (Later to become President of the Soviet Union) authorized weapons shipments. On 21 August, 1972, Andropov had presented a plan known as SPLASH to the Central Committee of the Community Party of the Soviet Union. It was entitled "Plan for the Operation of a Shipment of Weapons to the Irish Friends". Two machine guns, 70 automatic rifles, 10 Walther pistols and 41,600 cartridges were sent. The Walther pistols were lubricated with West German oil and the packaging was taken from several countries around the world by KGB agents so that the weapons could not be traced back to the Soviet Union. The weapons were brought to Ireland using the ship known as the Reduktor. Official IRA members also travelled to the Soviet Union for training.