You are correct, the IRA did not commit acts of mischief in the United States, because they were being funded by individuals living in the United States and by some very prominent American politicians. Special relationship, my bottom!

You say the IRA tended to target those living in Northern Ireland, but again, I take offense at and call BS on your statement, for I lived on the same street, a few doors down from then Sir Michael Havers when the IRA decided to blow his house up in 1981. The bombing didn't only impact him, it impacted everyone within the vicinity of his home. Similarly, a year and a half later, on a rather sticky August afternoon, I was walking toward Hyde Park from the American Embassy admiring a rather impressive looking red and blue student visa freshly stamped in my passport when the IRA set off a bomb aimed at the Household Cavalry that killed two of their members and about a dozen of their horses, and wounded many ordinary people in the park. None of the individuals targeted had anything to do with oppression and occupation in Northern Ireland.

Additionally, during 1970's London, any odd sized letter or parcel was thought to be a bomb, thanks again to a number of letter bomb campaigns executed by the IRA. There was a point in time where concerts, West End theatres and even football grounds were being emptied out due to threats being called in on an almost daily basis. The IRA really had us by the balls for a good while, and by us, I mean regular folk, not those in a position to help resolve some of the challenges to the Northern Ireland status quo. So, forgive me if I take offense at the manner in which you dismiss the actions of the IRA, but be assured that despite my personal scrapes with their work, I hold no animosity toward any group of people that look like, speak like or think like those IRA members who committed a few crimes against innocents in London. To do so would be most unreasonable.