The splinter group, dubbed the Real IRA by mediapersons and unwilling to accept the IRA's July 1997 cease-fire, committed the August 15 car bombing that killed 28 civilians and wounded more than 330 in the Northern Ireland town of Omagh. A twenty ninth victim died of his wounds and was buried yesterday. On August 19, the group declared a ``suspension'' of what it called its military operations'' -- a step short of Tuesday's formal cease-fire.

In its statement issued to the Irish state broadcasters RTE, the dissidents -- ``calling themselves simply IRA'' or its traditional Gaelic sister label, ``Oglaigh Na Heireann or `Soldiers of Ireland' -- said: ``As a result of intense consultation that has taken place over recent weeks, and in accordance with the constitution of Oglaigh Na Heireann, thevolunteers of Oglaigh Na Heireann have determined a complete cessation of all military activity.''

This brings the group into line with the mainstream IRA and several other paramilitary groups -- the IRA's main anti-British rival, the Irish National Liberation Army, which called its own truce August 22, and Northern Ireland's two major outlawed pro-British gangs, the Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Volunteer Force, which called a joint cease-fire in 1994.