Post by RedFlag32 on Aug 27, 2006 12:49:19 GMT
Nationalist break-up sparks fear of violence
Liam Clarke
THE IRA and Sinn Fein in South Derry have split, with up to 40 members and
supporters offering to co-operate with dissidents. Security forces fear
the possibility of an escalation in violence as various militant groups
start to work together to build a “left republican alternative”.
The defection of an entire IRA brigade would considerably strengthen them,
and could transform the security situation.
Details of the new organisation will be given at a public meeting in
Toomebridge, Co Antrim, on Tuesday night. Paddy Murray, a dissident
republican and former IRA bombmaker from Co Antrim, is one of the
organisers of the meeting. “We are trying to get as many people as
possible genuinely thinking of an alternative to the Provos,” he said.
Murray is currently on bail awaiting kidnapping charges.
“There will be other, less public, meetings later where serious business
will be done,” predicted one Real IRA member. “The South Derry people say
they can provide 40 men who are well-trained and not informers,” he added.
Michael McDowell, the Irish minister for justice, has estimated that the
Continuity IRA and Real IRA have about 200 active members each.
Some of those planning to attend the meeting are hoping that Dominic
McGlinchey, whose father of the same name was a notorious INLA leader,
will give a lead and act as a rallying point for dissident republicans.
McGlinchey previously opposed dissidents and supported the republican
leadership, but now says he will wait until after the meeting before
making his current position clear. His decision could swing a large
section of republican support in South Derry.
Both Real IRA and security sources say there is already co-operation
between republican splinter groups and the South Derry IRA. They cite the
discovery of a nail bomb and command wire in Bellaghy, Co Derry, at the
beginning of July.
Security forces have warned of a possible escalation of dissident
republican activity in the autumn as attempts are made to restore devolved
government.
Eleven days ago, a partially detonated 70lb bomb was defused by the Irish
army at a house being built for Lord Ballyedmond, the Unionist peer
formerly known as Eddie Haughey, at Hackballscross in Co Louth.
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-2330699,00.html
Liam Clarke
THE IRA and Sinn Fein in South Derry have split, with up to 40 members and
supporters offering to co-operate with dissidents. Security forces fear
the possibility of an escalation in violence as various militant groups
start to work together to build a “left republican alternative”.
The defection of an entire IRA brigade would considerably strengthen them,
and could transform the security situation.
Details of the new organisation will be given at a public meeting in
Toomebridge, Co Antrim, on Tuesday night. Paddy Murray, a dissident
republican and former IRA bombmaker from Co Antrim, is one of the
organisers of the meeting. “We are trying to get as many people as
possible genuinely thinking of an alternative to the Provos,” he said.
Murray is currently on bail awaiting kidnapping charges.
“There will be other, less public, meetings later where serious business
will be done,” predicted one Real IRA member. “The South Derry people say
they can provide 40 men who are well-trained and not informers,” he added.
Michael McDowell, the Irish minister for justice, has estimated that the
Continuity IRA and Real IRA have about 200 active members each.
Some of those planning to attend the meeting are hoping that Dominic
McGlinchey, whose father of the same name was a notorious INLA leader,
will give a lead and act as a rallying point for dissident republicans.
McGlinchey previously opposed dissidents and supported the republican
leadership, but now says he will wait until after the meeting before
making his current position clear. His decision could swing a large
section of republican support in South Derry.
Both Real IRA and security sources say there is already co-operation
between republican splinter groups and the South Derry IRA. They cite the
discovery of a nail bomb and command wire in Bellaghy, Co Derry, at the
beginning of July.
Security forces have warned of a possible escalation of dissident
republican activity in the autumn as attempts are made to restore devolved
government.
Eleven days ago, a partially detonated 70lb bomb was defused by the Irish
army at a house being built for Lord Ballyedmond, the Unionist peer
formerly known as Eddie Haughey, at Hackballscross in Co Louth.
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-2330699,00.html
