<human>:  Why did the British government allow the IRA to be re-established in the UK?
<bot>: The IRA was re-established in the UK because the British government wanted to avoid a civil war. The IRA had been disbanded after the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. However, the IRA had not been completely disbanded because they still had a few members who had not been arrested or captured. The IRA had been using Northern Ireland as a safe haven for its members to plan terrorist attacks against the British government. In particular, the IRA had been targeting the British military and police.