Yep. NYC was by far the biggest fundraising location the IRA had. I recall going there in the 80s and being warned not to go into certain areas, as my accent would get me a beat down at the very least.
With 9/11 drying up the money supply and the huge changes in Eastern Europe cutting down on the weapons supplied, the IRA and the Provos both had to spend more time at the table talking and less time killing. The ones who were in it for the chaos split off and became The Real IRA.
The Orange Order is not without fault though. They do like to deliberately inflame tensions - it gets their march in the news.
Still - hosting the Police and Fire Games? What did they expect? The only group more universally reviled in NI is the Army.