I am currently reading a book written by an Irish-American man who was a soldier in the US Marines and then joined the IRA. He was in charge, on the IRA side, of the arms shipment the Boston Irish Mob sent to the IRA in 1985. He dealt directly with Whitey Bulger and his crew.

Interestingly, he mentions that Whitey Bulger wanted the IRA to send an explosive expert to Boston to train his crew in car-bombs. Bulger also wanted the IRA to send to him a few guys on the run so he would protect them and they would work for him. The IRA knew he would use these guys as his private army so it never eeally materialized although the IRA always had a few guys hiding in Boston.