The car bomb attack at MI5 headquarters in Co Down on Monday morning has confirmed that the threat from dissident epublicans is as great now as that from the Provisional IRA at the height of the Troubles, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has said.
Ahead of a planned meeting tomorrow between himself and new Northern Ireland justice minister David Ford, Mr Ahern said the Garda had played a leading role in recent years in preventing terrorist attacks like the increasing number now occurring in the North.
“We have been pretty successful in the Republic. It would have to be said that a lot of the recent events are coming from within Northern Ireland and that’s something we have to assist the PSNI in.”
Mr Ahern made his comments while speaking to the media at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Superintendents.
He is due to meet Mr Ford in Belfast tomorrow for security talks that will also include Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy and PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott.
It will be the men’s first meeting since Mr Ford’s election to the position of justice minister on Monday.
Mr Ahern said the Government was “very concerned” at the recent upsurge in dissident activity in the North.
“This threat is as strong as it was at any time during the Troubles. All it takes is a small number of people who are committed in this respect; and these people have shown that they are committed.”
Mr Murphy said the recent events in the North were “troubling”.
“They are of great concern,” he said. "The bomb in Newry a few weeks ago was the first bomb that exploded in the North in 10 or 11 years.”
The threat was real for members of the public and the security forces. Gardaí were working closely with the PSNI to combat dissident groups.
