It developed a reputation for intra-republican and sectarian violence as well as criminality, before being forcibly disbanded by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in 1992.

[5] The IPLO's initial priority was to forcibly disband the Irish Republican Socialist Movement from which it had split, and most of its early attacks reflected this, being more frequently against former comrades than on the security forces.

The feud with the INLA lasted from 1986 to 1987 and resulted in the deaths of 12 people including IPLO leader Gerard Steenson who was shot in March 1987.

In Dublin the IRA reprieved the IPLO Chief of Staff in return for surrendering a small cache of arms held in Ballybough.

[13] Reportedly the group had also established small support bases in Continental Europe including France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

[14] According to the Sutton database of deaths at the University of Ulster's CAIN project Archived 24 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, the IPLO was responsible for 22 killings during the Troubles.