25th April 2011
Gavin Coyle (33)
Brian Anthony Sheridan (34)
Brian Francis Cavlan (35)
Dominic Dines (39)
Weapons and ammunition found in a car in Northern Ireland were not intended to kill anybody, a court heard today.
They were to be buried when police uncovered the cache in Keady, south Armagh, near the border, three suspects charged with terrorism offences told police.
Brian Anthony Sheridan (34) from Avonmore, Blackwatertown, Co Armagh; Brian Francis Cavlan (35) from Circular Road, Dungannon; and Dominic Dines (39) from Bree, Castleblaney, Co Monaghan, appeared at Newry Magistrates’ Court today.
Detective Sergeant Ronnie Gibson told the court he could connect the accused to the charges.
He said Dines replied when charged that “he was told to bury the weapons found in the car that he was driving and he had no intent to use them at any time to shoot or kill anybody, carry out any robbery or any show of strength”.
The other defendants made similar statements. They made no reply, refusing to identify themselves, to a charge of possession of firearms and two counts of possession of articles for use in terrorism on Friday last.
At the time police said it was linked to suspected dissident republican activity after a joint operation with gardaí. The detective confirmed a shovel was found in the Citroen car stopped by police that appeared to have been used.
The accused were dressed casually in T-shirts and jeans. The court was full of police officers in body armour and relatives of the defendants.
At one point one of the suspects smiled across at the public gallery. They sat in silence as the court proceedings continued.
Magistrate Paul Copeland remanded the three in custody to appear by video link at Armagh Magistrates Court at the next sitting.
Who Are The Dissidents?
The IRA
The IRA is the latest ‘dissident’ group to raise its head. The IRA is based in Tyrone and is made up of members of the Provisional IRA. They have guns and explosives that were allegedly decommissioned.
The Real IRA
The Real IRA was born out of a split in the mainstream Provisional IRA (PIRA) in October 1997, when the PIRA's so-called quartermaster-general Michael Mc Kevitt and PIRA Chief of Staff Kevin McKenna resigned over Sinn Fein's embrace of the peace process. However, both men were fully aware of the secret meetings between the British secret service (M16) and IRA leader Martin Mc Guinness.
Shortly after its formation, the paramilitary group quickly took over from the older Continuity IRA as the leading home for dissidents.
However, the security forces believe the two organisations have co-operated in a number of attacks including the Omagh bomb.
The Real IRA was responsible for the Omagh bombing in August 1998. It was also behind a string of subsequent attacks including the car bombing of BBC Television Centre in west London in June 2001 and the shooting of two soldiers at Massereene army base in 2009.
According to the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC), the Real IRA and Continuity IRA are increasingly working more closely together to increase the threat posed to security forces.
The Real IRA is thought to be split into two fairly distinct factions, each with its own leadership structures.
The Real IRA in Dublin is led by two brothers Alan and Antony Ryan and that organisation is making significant money from drug dealing and racketeering. They have also been involved in the murder of a number of vulnerable individuals.
Continuity IRA
The Continuity IRA (CIRA) has its origins in a split in the IRA which centred around opposition to republican candidates taking seats in the Irish Republic's parliament.
In 1986 some members of Sinn Fein, angry at the party's decision to end its policy of abstention broke away and formed a new party called Republican Sinn Fein. It is worth noting that Republican Sinn Fein have taken their salaries and expenses when they have been elected to a couple of local authority seats in the Republic.
The security forces say the CIRA was set up as the military wing of Republican Sinn Fein, although the party says that is not the case.
For many years the CIRA was a very small and largely inactive group. It announced its reappearance in 1996 when it destroyed a hotel in County Fermanagh with a bomb thought to contain more than 1,200lbs of explosives.
It is believed most of its members are concentrated in Counties Fermanagh, Armagh and Monaghan.
It claimed responsibility for the murder of police officer Stephen Carroll in March 2009.
Recently the Continuity IRA is believed to have split between those on the traditional wing - mainly members in the Irish Republic - and a younger faction based mainly in Northern Ireland.
Oglaigh na hEireann
The name Oglaigh na hEireann (which roughly translates as soldiers of Ireland) has been used by a variety of groups.
It is the sole name used by a relatively new group which has been the most active dissident republican organisation over the past year.
It is comprised of a small group of veteran members of other paramilitary organisations, including the Provisional IRA.
The group, which emerged around 2005, is mainly based in Belfast and South Armagh, but has shown itself capable of carrying out attacks over a wide geographical area.
Earlier this year, a Catholic police officer was left critically injured when an Oglaigh na hEireann bomb exploded underneath his car in County Antrim.
Its attack in summer 2010 have included the attempted booby-trap bombing of an Army major in County Down and a bomb attack on Strand Road police station in Derry.
In an interview with the Irish News in August 2010, the organisation said the "vast majority" of its members are former Provisional IRA men.
A spokesperson said they had been prepared to give Sinn Fein an opportunity to show that politics could be a substitute for violent action but had lost patience with the strategy.
He said that popular support for armed struggle was irrelevant and that Oglaigh na hEireann would only hold talks with the British government if it was likely that they would lead to British withdrawal within a short timeframe.
Other groups which have used the title Oglaigh na hEireann include a faction which split from the Continuity IRA in 2006 and a Real IRA splinter group.
Coincidentally, Oglaigh na hEireann is also the official Irish-language title for the Irish defence forces.
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army was formed in 1975, mainly from disaffected members of the IRA unhappy at a previous ceasefire. It has killed more than 150 people.
Its most high profile murder was that of Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Billy Wright, who was shot dead in the Maze prison in 1997.
The INLA regularly indulged in bouts of bloody in-fighting and became involved in organised crime, such as extortion, robbery and drug dealing.
It claimed responsibility for the murder of a drug dealer in Londonderry in February, but was considered to be the least active of the dissident groups in recent years.
On 11 October 2009, the INLA announced that its armed struggle was over and said its objective of a "32-county socialist republic" would be best achieved through exclusively peaceful means. One of its leaders Declan Duffy is presently in prison and has been involved in a series of criminal actions.
Republican Action Against Drugs
Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) is an organisation widely believed to be made up of former Provisional IRA members.
Some believe it may be a front for other dissident groups.
According to the Independent Monitoring Commission RAAD is partly responsible for the increase in mutilation attacks in Derry.
The group have claimed responsibility for about 12 "mutilation shootings" in the city over the past year, including attacks on suspected drug dealers. These type of attacks are normally used to ensure that the community remains silent about the criminal actions of paramilitary group members including rape.
In its report from November 2009, the IMC referred to the "growth of vigilante organisations which claim to want to 'clean-up' anti-social behaviour".
The IMC said these groups were "a factor behind the increase in the number of attacks in some nationalist areas".
End
As Dissident Criminals continue to bring death and destruction to the streets of Ireland here are some important facts about the dissident criminals who dare to call themselves republicans. Below is a timeline of dissident criminal activity since 2009 and a breakdown of the various criminal groupings.
Week Beginning Monday April 25th 2011
Gavin Coyle (33)
Brian Anthony Sheridan (34)
Brian Francis Cavlan (35)
Dominic Dines (39)
Weapons and ammunition found in a car in Northern Ireland were not intended to kill anybody, a court heard today.
They were to be buried when police uncovered the cache in Keady, south Armagh, near the border, three suspects charged with terrorism offences told police.
Brian Anthony Sheridan (34) from Avonmore, Blackwatertown, Co Armagh; Brian Francis Cavlan (35) from Circular Road, Dungannon; and Dominic Dines (39) from Bree, Castleblaney, Co Monaghan, appeared at Newry Magistrates’ Court today.
Detective Sergeant Ronnie Gibson told the court he could connect the accused to the charges.
He said Dines replied when charged that “he was told to bury the weapons found in the car that he was driving and he had no intent to use them at any time to shoot or kill anybody, carry out any robbery or any show of strength”.
The other defendants made similar statements. They made no reply, refusing to identify themselves, to a charge of possession of firearms and two counts of possession of articles for use in terrorism on Friday last.
At the time police said it was linked to suspected dissident republican activity after a joint operation with gardaí. The detective confirmed a shovel was found in the Citroen car stopped by police that appeared to have been used.
The accused were dressed casually in T-shirts and jeans. The court was full of police officers in body armour and relatives of the defendants.
At one point one of the suspects smiled across at the public gallery. They sat in silence as the court proceedings continued.
Magistrate Paul Copeland remanded the three in custody to appear by video link at Armagh Magistrates Court at the next sitting.
April 2011
A 500lb bomb is left in a van at an underpass on the main Belfast to Dublin Road in Newry.
The alert began on the night of Thursday 7 April and was cleared on Saturday 9 April. Several motorists drove past the vehicle on the Friday.
Constable Ronan Kerr is killed after a bomb explodes under his car outside his home in Omagh, County Tyrone, on 2 April.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but dissident republicans have been blamed.
The 25-year-old had joined the police in May 2010 and had been working in the community for five months.
Northern Ireland Chief Constable Matt Baggott described Constable Kerr as a "modern-day hero".
1. March 2009, Massereene Barracks, County Antrim: Sappers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey are killed as they collect pizzas outside their barracks. The Real IRA said it carried out the attack.
2. March 2009, Craigavon, County Armagh: Constable Stephen Carroll, 48, is shot dead as he and police colleagues answer a call for help. The Continuity IRA says it shot the policeman
3. February 2010, Braehead Road, near the Irish border: The naked and bound body of 31-year-old dissident republican Kieran Doherty is found close to Londonderry. The Real IRA says it abducted and murdered him
4. April 2011, Omagh, County Tyrone: Constable Ronan Kerr is killed after a bomb explodes under his car outside his home. Dissident republicans have been blamed
March 2011
Forensic experts at the scene of Derry courthouse bomb The PSNI describe a bomb left near Londonderry courthouse as a "substantial viable device".
District Commander, Stephen Martin, said a beer keg, left in a stolen car, contained around 50kg of home-made explosives.
The alert started on the evening of Sunday 27 March.
Irish police investigate possible dissident republican involvement in the shooting of three people in a park in Blanchardstown, Dublin on Sunday 27 March.
Two of the injured men were shot in the body, the other in the head.
A number of shots are fired at police officers at Glen Road in Londonderry on the night of 2 March.
Police say it was an attempt to kill.
February 2011
On 18 February Sinn Fein condemn a threat they say has been made by dissident republicans against the brother of Pat Finucane as "beyond contempt".
Gerry Kelly said the threat against community worker Seamus Finucane came from the dissident republican group, Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH).
Irish police investigating the activities of dissident republicans discover items they said could be used to make explosive devices.
They were found during a search of a house in Barnstown in County Wexford.
January 2011
On 30 January two men arrested in Galway after police found guns and explosives are charged at a court in Dublin.
They were charged with unlawful possession of an explosive substance, unlawful possession of a revolver and unlawful possession of ammunition.
Two bombs were found during an alert on the Antrim Road in north Belfast The PSNI confirm two bombs were found in a security alert which started on the Antrim Road in north Belfast on 23 January and lasted several days.
The second viable device was found behind a scout hall while the first found, an "anti-personnel device", was found outside a shop.
On 22 January, the leader of the Irish Republic's main opposition party, Edna Kenny of Fine Gael, tells the Alliance Party conference, if he was the country's prime minister, he would do everything within his powers to combat the threat of dissident republicans.
Police in the Republic of Ireland question five men arrested in connection with the discovery of a "bomb factory" on a farm in County Kildare.
A 22-year-old man appears in court on 12 January in connection with a dissident republican bomb attack on a police station in Londonderry.
December 2010
A policeman finds an unexploded grenade outside his home in County Fermanagh.
The device was discovered at the property in Drumreer Road, Maguiresbridge, on 23 December.
A terrorism charge against 40-year-old dissident republican Gary Donnelly from Londonderry is withdrawn on 22 December.
A grenade was found outside a police officer's home in County Fermanagh. In the Republic, three men from Northern Ireland are jailed for IRA membership on 15 December.
Gerard McGarrigle, 46, from Mount Carmel Heights in Strabane was sentenced to five years in prison.
Desmond Donnelly, 58, from Drumall, Lisnarick, Fermanagh and Jim Murphy, 63, from Floraville in Enniskillen, were given three years and nine months.
They were arrested in Letterkenny in February after Irish police received a tip-off that dissident republicans were about to carry out a tiger kidnapping.
On 10 December, the Police Federation claims the level of dissident republican terrorist activity in Northern Ireland is being played down by the police and government to make NI appear more normal than it actually is.
A 21-year-old woman is charged with having a gun and ammunition with intent to endanger life on 5 December.
The arrest followed a search in west Belfast by detectives investigating suspected dissident republican activity.
Four men are arrested after an explosive device is found in a car near Dundalk, County Louth on 1 December.
The device, described by police as a viable mortar, was made safe by bomb disposal experts.
November 2010
A meeting of the Derry DPP in the Guildhall on 25 November has to be abandoned after republican protesters blew horns and chanted slogans.
The scene of the bomb attack in west Belfast A military hand grenade is used to attack police officers called to a robbery at Shaw's Road in west Belfast on 5 November.
Three police officers were hurt and one of them suffered serious arm injuries when the grenade was thrown by a cyclist who then made off.
The dissident paramilitary group Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH) said it was responsible for the attack.
October 2010
Two men are shot in the legs in attacks in Londonderry in the space of 48 hours - the first on Sunday 17 October, the second on Tuesday 19 October.
A general purpose machine-gun and improvised mortar bomb are among the weapons found in a police search in a wooded area at Togher, Dunleer, County Louth on 11 October.
Ten people are arrested after Irish police find weapons and bomb making material in raids in Counties Louth, Wexford and Waterford on 8 October.
Two men later appear in court while files are prepared for the DPP on the others.
The Ulster Bank on Culmore Road was damaged in car bomb attack in Derry A car bomb explodes close to the Ulster Bank, shops and a hotel on Londonderry's Culmore Road on 4 October.
The area had been cleared when the bomb exploded, but the blast was so strong that a police officer who was standing close to the cordon was knocked off his feet.
Masonry and glass from smashed windows were strewn across the Culmore Road.
Lurgan man Paul McCaugherty is jailed for 20 years for a dissident republican gun smuggling plot which was uncovered after an MI5 sting operation.
McCaugherty was found guilty of attempting to import weapons and explosives.
Dermot Declan Gregory from Crossmaglen, was found guilty of making a Portuguese property available for the purpose of terrorism. He was sentenced to four years.
September 2010
A 54-year-old Newry man is charged seven offences including possession of firearms and ammunition with intent in the preparation of acts of terrorism after police discover firearms including a "walking stick which could be turned into a gun" in the shed of a house.
Home Secretary Theresa May issued a warning about possible dissident attacks in Great Britain On 24 September, Home Secretary Theresa May says an attack on Britain by "Irish-related" terrorists is a "strong possibility".
She was speaking as MI5 raised the country's threat level.
The British and Irish governments again insist they are not holding talks with the dissidents.
The head of MI5 tells a meeting of security professionals in London that the threat from dissident republicans is rising.
Jonathan Evans said MI5 could not rule out the possibility of dissidents extending their attacks to Great Britain.
August 2010
Three children suffer minor injuries when a bomb explodes in a bin in Lurgan's North Street on 14 August.
The bomb went off at a junction where police would have been expected to put up a cordon around the school. The explosion injured the children after it blew a hole in a metal fence.
Three children were hurt after a bomb exploded in a bin in Lurgan Three other alerts in the town were declared elaborate hoaxes.
Chief Inspector Sam Cordner said the attack had "stark similarities" to the 1998 Omagh atrocity.
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness tells the BBC the British government has talked to dissident republicans in recent weeks,
He also says the Irish government had been meeting with dissidents for years.
A booby trap partially explodes under the car of a former policeman in Cookstown, County Tyrone, on 10 August.
The man was unhurt in the attack, but it is the first time one of the latest series of booby-trap bombs detonates.
A bomb is found under the car of a Catholic policewoman in Kilkeel in County Down on 8 August.
It is believed the device fell off the car before being spotted by the officer.
Irish police investigating dissident republican activity arrest five men in County Louth on the same day.
Guns, ammunition and balaclavas are found in two cars during the operation.
A booby-trap bomb was found in the driveway of a soldier's house in Bangor On 4 August, booby trap bomb is found under a soldier's car in Bangor.
It is thought the device could have been planted by dissident republicans close to the base where he was stationed and he drove home without it being detected.
It then fell off and he discovered it as he was about to leave his home.
A car that exploded outside a police station in Londonderry contained 200lb of homemade explosives.
No-one was injured in the attack which happened on 3 August but several businesses were badly damaged in the blast.
July 2010
On 28 July, an 18-year-old man is abducted in west Belfast and driven two miles away to the Lenadoon estate where he is shot in both legs.
A bomb blast in Belleeks was thought to be an attempt to lure police Police say a shooting at a house in Londonderry on 26 July could be linked to the vigilante group Republican Action Against Drugs.
Three men and a woman were in the property at Dunmore Gardens when four masked men forced their way in and fired two shots.
Four men and a teenage boy are arrested on the Falls Road in west Belfast following an attempted paramilitary shooting at a house in the St James' area.
The five are later charged with terrorism offences.
The remains of an exploded pipe bomb are found in the grounds of a west Belfast police station on 22 July.
The device was discovered at Woodbourne PSNI station on the Stewartstown Road.
A bomb explodes between Belleeks and Cullyhanna in south Armagh, blowing a crater in the road and damaging a stone bridge on 10 July.
Police view it as an attempt to lure them into the area in order to carry out a follow-up ambush.
Dissident republicans are blamed for organising two nights of sustained rioting in the Broadway and Bog Meadows areas of west Belfast on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 July.
Later rioting on 11, 12, 13 and 14 July in south and north Belfast, Lurgan and Londonderry is also believed to have involved dissidents.
Dissidents were believed to have organised riots in Belfast Scores of police officers were injured during the violence, which featured gun attacks, petrol bombs and other missiles being thrown.
Five men are arrested after police stop three cars near Omeath in County Louth on 10 July.
Irish police suspect they were trying to move explosives across the border.
One man is charged, while four others were released while a file is prepared for the DPP.
Shots are fired at Crossmaglen PSNI station on 2 July.
Dissident republicans said they were behind two similar attacks in December and January.
June 2010
Paul McCaugherty was found guilty of trying to import weapons On 30 June, two men are convicted of attempting to import weapons and explosives for use by dissident republicans.
Paul McCaugherty, 43, of Beech Court in Lurgan and Dermot Declan Gregory of Concession Road in Crossmaglen, were caught in an MI5 sting operation.
A Belfast court heard McCaugherty handled over bundles of euros in a specially adapted bag to an undercover agent, saying he needed "explosives, pistols, AK-47s, armour-piercing stuff, snipers, cords and detonators".
Both are to be sentenced in September.
May 2010
A suspected bomb factory was found near Dundalk A report by the Independent Monitoring Commission on 26 May says dissidents "remain highly active and dangerous".
It said the threat was "very serious" but they were not able to mount a campaign like the Provisional IRA.
Two men are charged with explosives offences after the discovery of an alleged dissident bomb-making factory near Dundalk on 22 May.
Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern says the find foiled an attack in Northern Ireland.
April 2010
A bomb outside Crossmaglen police station was defused A car bomb explodes outside Newtownhamilton police station, injuring two people.
Local residents also report hearing gunshots before the blast.
Police chiefs say the threat from dissident republicans is higher than at any time since the Omagh bomb almost 12 years ago.
Senior police officers believe rival factions in the Real IRA and Continuity IRA have increased co-operation and stepped up recruitment.
There are five pipe bomb attacks on houses in the west of Northern Ireland in a week - two of them claimed by a group calling itself Republican Action Against Drugs.
A car bomb is defused outside Newtownhamilton police station in south Armagh on Tuesday 13 April.
A bomb in a hijacked taxi explodes outside Palace Barracks in Holywood on Monday 12 April - the day policing and justice powers are transferred to Northern Ireland.
One man suffers minor injuries.
A two-day protest by dissident republicans at Maghaberry Prison ends on Easter Tuesday. The prisoners had barricaded themselves into a dining room.
Police say a car bomb left outside Crossmaglen on Easter Saturday night could have killed or seriously injured anyone in the area. The bomb - made up of a number of flammable containers - was made safe by Army experts.
On 12 April, the Real IRA leaves a no-warning car bomb outside MI5's Northern Ireland headquarters at Palace Barracks in Holywood, County Down.
The blast is timed for the same day that policing and justice powers are devolved from Westminster to Stormont. An elderly man walking near the Army base at the time of the explosion is treated in hospital for minor injuries, but the bomb causes little damage.
March 2010
Dissidents were also blamed for a series of alerts in Belfast, Londonderry and on the railway line in south Armagh, which caused major traffic disruption on Friday 19 March.
Shots were fired at police investigated the railway alert, although no-one was injured.
February 2010
Kieran Doherty was murdered by the Real IRA On 24 February, the naked and bound body of 31-year-old Kieran Doherty was found close to the Irish border near Derry.
The Real IRA said it killed Mr Doherty who, it said, was one of its members. Forensic psychologists believe that the men who carried out the murder are sex criminals due to the nature of the murder, it has been traditional for terrorist groups to facilitate sex criminals within their ranks.
Dissidents are also believed to have been behind a number of mutilation-shootings in the city in recent months.
Two days earlier a bomb damaged the gates of Newry courthouse.
Officers were evacuating the area when the bomb went off. Police said it was a miracle no-one was killed.
February had begun with Irish Police stopping a suspected attack by dissident republicans in County Donegal.
A car was stopped at Cooladawson, near Stranorlar, and a man arrested.
Three other men who were in the car ran off across fields. A gun was also recovered.
In Belfast, 40 families were moved from their homes after a pipe bomb was thrown at a police station.
Dissidents were also suspected of being involved in organising rioting in the Craigavon area at the end of the month.
Newry Courthouse was damaged in a bomb attack In Cork, cash, drugs and a number of suspected imitation guns were seized during a major operation targeting dissident republican paramilitaries.
The operation followed a claim from the Real IRA that it shot dead a convicted drug dealer in Cork on 20 January.
There was widespread condemnation in Londonderry over a campaign by the 32 County Sovereignty Movement.
The group, regarded as the Real IRA's political wing, said it would picket shops that deal with the police in protest at stop and search tactics.
January 2010
A 33-year-old Catholic police officer was seriously injured in a dissident republican car bomb about a mile from his home in Randalstown, County Antrim.
A PSNI spokesman said it was too early to say which group was behind the attack.
The family of a Londonderry shopkeeper who sells smoking paraphernalia and "legal highs" said they believe he was shot and injured by dissident republicans on 27 January because of his business. It is well known that the Real IRA are involved in profiting from drug dealing.
On the last day of the month the Real IRA opened fire on a police station in County Armagh.
No-one was injured in the attack in Bessbrook, but Ulster Unionist MLA Danny Kennedy said he condemned "this act of wanton intent and murder".
December 2009
Shots are fired at Crossmaglen police station on 30 December. No-one is injured.
November 2009
The car contained a 400lb bomb which partially exploded The body set up to monitor paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland said dissident republicans were more active than at any time in the last four and a half years.
The Independent Monitoring Commission published its 20th report which said dissidents were directing their efforts to kill PSNI officers.
Dissident republicans were also blamed for leaving a car containing a 400lb bomb outside the Policing Board's headquarters in Belfast.
The car, which had been driven through a barrier by two men who then ran off, burst into flames when the device partially exploded.
On the same night, shots were fired during an undercover police operation in the County Fermanagh village of Garrison in what police described as an attempt to kill a trainee PSNI officer.
Five men were arrested by police on both sides of the border.
Two of the men, a former Irish army reservist and an unsuccessful council election candidate, were later charged with attempted murder.
One of Northern Ireland's highest profile judges moved out of his Belfast home over fears of a dissident republican threat against him.
Mr Justice Treacy's £650,000 house was bought under the Housing Executive's Special Purchase of Evacuated Dwellings (Sped) scheme.
October 2009
Four men dressed in paramilitary style uniform and black masks fired a volley of shots has been fired over the coffin of a dissident republican who had committed suicide in a Derry police station.
Masked men fired a volley of shots over John Brady's coffin. It was believed that John Brady had taken his own life at Strand Road police station days earlier.
The dissident republican vigilante group, Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) claimed responsibility for shooting and injuring a 27-year-old man in Londonderry.
One of the police officers who went to the scene of the gun attack was knocked unconscious after he was hit on the head with a lump of concrete.
The DUP's Ian Paisley Jnr said police had warned him that dissident republicans were planning to murder him.
Mr Paisley, who is a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, said officers contacted him to inform him of the foiled attack.
A police officer's partner was injured when a bomb exploded under her car in east Belfast.
The 38-year-old was reversing the vehicle out of the driveway of a house in the east of the city when the device exploded.
In the same month a bomb exploded inside a Territorial Army base in north Belfast.
The police confirmed that "some blast damage" had occurred inside the base off the Antrim Road and shrapnel from the overnight explosion was found in neighbouring streets.
September 2009
The PSNI said a 600lb bomb left near the Irish border in south Armagh was intended to kill its officers.
The bomb was defused by the army near the village of Forkhill.
Days later the Real IRA claimed responsibility for placing two explosive devices near their homes of a policeman's relatives in Derry.
The first device exploded outside his parents' home while a second device, which was found outside his sister's home, was taken away for examination by the army.
August 2009
A group of armed and masked men, believed to be from a faction of the Real IRA, set up a roadblock in the south Armagh village of Meigh.
They handed out leaflets warning people against co-operating with the security forces on either side of the border.
July 2009
Sinn Fein blamed the Real IRA for orchestrating rioting in north Belfast. At least one shot was fired at police and two blast bombs were thrown.
Dissident republican protesters disrupted a meeting of the District Policing Partnership in Derry.
June 2009
Conor Murphy, a Sinn Fein MP and minister in Northern Ireland's devolved administration, blamed dissident republicans for an arson attack on his home in south Armagh.
May 2009
Dissident republicans were suspected of involvement in a petrol bomb attack on the Derry home of senior Sinn Fein member Mitchel McLaughlin.
April 2009
The Real IRA in Londonderry said it shot a convicted rapist in the legs, one of a series of such attacks in Derry during this time. While the Real IRA have sex criminals within their ranks they carry out such attacks to distract from their own criminality.
Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, said dissident republicans had threatened to kill him.
March 2009
Sappers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey died in the attack Two young soldiers were shot dead as they collected pizzas outside Massereene Barracks in County Antrim.
Sappers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey were killed just hours before they were due to be deployed to Afghanistan.
The Real IRA was blamed for this attack.
Within 48 hours a policeman, Stephen Carroll, was shot dead in Craigavon.
He was the first police officer to be murdered in Northern Ireland since 1998.
Paul Williams Execution ordered: The Real IRA in Dublin have ordered the execution of News of the World journalist Mr Paul Williams. A contract has been issued for the execution of under-world crime journalist Paul Williams. Mr Williams bravely confronted gunman Alan Ryan at his Carlow hid away this week and Alan Ryan is determined to make Mr Williams pay for that intrusion.
Alan Ryan who is one of two brothers leading a drug dealing gang in Dublin calling themselves the Real IRA and who have been responsible for acts of brutality and murder have vowed to continue to bring violence and death to the streets of Dublin including the death of Mr Paul Williams. Alan Ryan divides his time between bringing death and destruction to the Streets of Dublin and sneaking off three days per week to spend time with a woman who has a child to him in Carlow. While in Carlow, Alan Ryan, who has no official means of income, spends lavish sums of money in the local pubs and clubs, however, locals are not aware that Ryan’s money is blood money generated from the broken bodies of vulnerable men, women and children in Dublin.
PSNI Officers has found a second haul of bomb making equipment in County Armagh as they continue their crack down on dissident criminals. The second haul was found last night as PSNI officers working in co-operation with the Gardai continued to search in the border area near Keady. The Irish Observer has been warning now for a number of weeks that ‘dissidents’ were preparing a massive campaign of bombings and shootings to mark the visit of Queen Elizabeth to Dublin. The ‘dissidents’ are top heavy with former Provisional IRA members and have in their possession over 200 guns that were allegedly decommissioned under the ‘watchful’ eye of the International decommissioning body.
The dissidents have also possession of 400lb of high explosive and un-quantified amounts of various ammunition, with the exception of a few small arms this entire haul belonged to the Provisional IRA, although it is thought that political pressure is insuring that the results of ballistic testing on the weapons already captured by the Gardai and PSNI is not being made public.
The Real IRA in Dublin (cover name for major drug dealing gang) are preparing violent demonstrations against the Queens Visit to Dublin, while their counter-parts in the north will step up their bombing and shooting campaign. The Real IRA in Dublin have in their possession a light 50 snipping rifle.
The new ‘dissident’ grouping ‘The IRA’ in Tyrone intends to mark the 30th anniversary of the death of IRA Hunger Striker Bobby Sands (5th May) and the anniversary of Loughgall (8 IRA members executed by the SAS 8th May 1986) with a bombing spectacular. This new grouping has been training and making bombs in rural bog-land in County Monaghan.
Previous up-dates
Provisional IRA members have now established a new terrorist organisation and have claimed the murder of PSNI officer Ronan Kerr in Omagh. The new terrorist group have access to guns and explosives that were allegedly decommissioned. The news comes as the Gardai and PSNI crack down on dissident terrorist activity. However, the dissidents remain determined to carry out further attacks in the coming weeks and intend to bring violence to the streets of Dublin when Queen Elizabeth visits Dublin 17-20th May 2011.
It is known that the Real IRA in Dublin has secured a light 50 snipping rifle from dissident terrorists in south Armagh. The weapon has been entrusted to two brothers who lead the drug dealing Real IRA in Dublin. The two brothers were taught in weapons handling at a secret shooting range in County Meath.
A 33-year-old man who was arrested by PSNI detectives investigating the dissident republican murder of PSNI Constable Ronan Kerr appeared at Dungannon Magistrates Court in Co Tyrone today.
Gavin Coyle (33) was charged with possession of firearms and explosives with intent to endanger life and possession of articles likely to be of use in terrorism.
Police have found a large quantity of bomb-making equipment during a joint Garda-PSNI investigation into dissident republican activity in Co Armagh.
Officers involved in the operation carried out a number of searches in the south of the county following yesterday's seizure of arms and ammunition near Keady.
Police said a 'large quantity' of suspected bomb-making equipment was found during a series of searches today. No arrests were made and investigations are ongoing.
Three people are still in custody after a haul of guns and ammunition, described by police as 'substantial', was recovered yesterday after a vehicle was stopped and searched.
The three men arrested were at the scene, near Keady, Co Armagh, and were taken for questioning to the PSNI's serious crimes suite in Antrim.
The arrests came as the PSNI issued a warning that dissident republicans are intent on murdering more of its police officers “in the coming days and weeks”.
The police service took the unusual step yesterday evening of issuing a statement urging the public to be vigilant for such attacks over Easter.
The warning to policemen was issued last night after a new dissident grouping, reported to be comprised of former Provisional IRA members, said it murdered Constable Kerr in Omagh three weeks ago.
The new group styling itself “the IRA” said it was responsible for the “recent execution of the RUC (sic) member in Omagh”.
In a statement to yesterday’s Belfast Telegraph it also said it was planning more killings and bombings. It said it was totally separate from other dissident groups such as the Real IRA/Óglaigh na hÉireann and the Continuity IRA.
The PSNI asked the “public to be particularly vigilant over the Easter holiday period due to the severe threat level posed by terrorists”.
“Dissident terrorist groups are continuing to identify officers and target them with the single objective of killing them. And, in so doing, their reckless actions will also put the lives of our wider communities at risk,” said a spokeswoman.
“Police believe terrorist groups are intent on trying to murder officers in the coming days and weeks. And while police will be taking all appropriate and legitimate steps to minimise this threat, they are asking for the public’s co-operation, assistance and forbearance as they do so.”
She made clear that Northern Ireland was likely to experience disruptive security activity over the holiday to resist the dissident threat.
“The public will see an increased visible police presence over the coming days and weeks and we ask for their patience with their officers if they are inconvenienced due to police activity,” she said.
Police urged anyone who saw suspicious activity to report it to the PSNI. “If you see anything which does not look right or causes you concern, please contact police.”
Police investigating the murder of Constable Ronan Kerr have charged a man with terrorism offences.
The suspect (33) is accused of possession of firearms and explosives with the intent to endanger life and possession of articles likely to be of use in terrorism.
Constable Kerr (25) died earlier this month when a booby trap bomb exploded under his car in Omagh, Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
The suspect will appear at Dungannon Magistrates’ Court, Tyrone, tomorrow.
At the time of the killing police blamed dissident republicans for targeting the Catholic officer.
The device exploded as he got into his car to go to work, yards from where participants in a fun run had earlier passed by.
This is the first individual to be charged. Two others were released earlier this week.
Separately, a newly dissident Republican group is reported to have admitted murdering Mr Kerr.
Today's Belfast Telegraph newspaper says the group is made up of former members of the IRA.
It said it had seen a statement issued by the group in which it threatens to continue a campaign of violence to try to end what it described as "British occupation".
Real IRA Dublin Real IRA Murder of Queen Elizabeth
A leading crime gang in Dublin who have been responsible for a number of shootings and murders in recent months, and who call themselves the Real IRA have secured a light 50 snipping rifle from dissident criminals in south Armagh in preparation for planned violence that will mark the Visit to Dublin of Queen Elizabeth of England 17-20 May 2011. The Real IRA in Dublin are now one of the main gangs profiting from drug dealing and racketeering and use a flag of convenience to justify their criminal activity.
Earlier this week three people were arrested after ammunition was seized in a pub ordered to remove a 40ft banner barring the Queen of England during her state visit to Ireland.
A source confirmed that pub owner John Stokes – father of Celtic player Anthony Stokes – was among those arrested on suspicion of possessing firearms.
Last month, a judge ordered Mr Stokes to remove his controversial sign from outside the Players Lounge in the north Dublin suburb of Fairview, and not to erect another one.
Gardaí raided the pub at around 10am 8/4/2011 as part of an operation targeting dissident republican and organised criminal activity in the capital.
A handful of bullets found in a shed at the back of the pub have been taken away for ballistic tests and it understood Mr Stokes was arrested at the scene.
A number of private houses were also searched in the Donaghmede area in a crackdown involving more than 100 officers, including the force’s special detective unit.
Another two people - a man and a woman - were also arrested during the operation and all three were detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.
They were questioned at Store Street, Bridewell and Whitehall Garda stations.
The raids were linked to an investigation into a long-running turf war between the Real IRA and other drugs gangs in Dublin.
The bitter rivals are battling for supremacy in a protection racket and drug dealing empire targeting pubs and clubs in Dublin.
Last July, three men, including a doorman and two customers, were gunned down outside the Players Lounge.
Cocaine was also recovered during searches on 8/4/2011.
The two men arrested, aged 54 and 46, and the woman, aged 55, were held under section 30 of the offences against the state act.
Mr Stokes, 54, said last month that he reluctantly agreed to take down the massive anti-Queen banner after a senior Garda threatened to object to his application for late licences.
The publican said the livelihoods of his 12 staff members would be at risk if he did not get the licence extensions.
But outside Dublin District Court he vowed to continue his protest against the Queen.
This week, it was confirmed that the state visit to Ireland will take in a tour of several historically significant sites including Croke Park – the scene of a massacre by British troops – and Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance – which honours all those who fought for Irish freedom.
The trip, from May 17 to 20, will be the first by a British sovereign to the Republic of Ireland. It is known that the Real IRA in Dublin and other dissident groupings are planning street protests, however, it is also known that dissident terrorists will unite to launch a new wave of terrorists attacks in the North. These attacks were flagged by The Irish Observer at the beginning of 2011. The Real IRA Dublin have sought and secured a light 50 snipping rifle from dissidents in South Armagh that rifle has been trusted to two brothers whom lead the Real IRA in Dublin. While it is not known what the exact intention of the Real IRA in Dublin is in relation to the use of the snipping rifle, it is rumoured that an attempt will be made on the life of Queen Elizabeth or those who protect her.
Bombing capacity improves as more Provo Engineers join Dissident Ranks
Police in Northern Ireland have confirmed that a van at the centre of a major security alert close to the border yesterday contained a 'very substantial' bomb.
A number of controlled explosions were carried out on the vehicle found at a section of the main road between Belfast and Dublin, near Newry, after which officers confirmed a viable device had been found.
Confirmation that a bomb was discovered in Newry comes after motorists drove through the scene yesterday morning, unaware that a security alert was under way because traffic cones placed by police had been moved.
No further details were available, but the incident comes as detectives continue to question three men over the murder of Constable Ronan Kerr.
A 33-year-old man was detained in the Omagh area yesterday over the booby trap bomb attack that killed the 25-year-old Catholic officer outside his home in the Co Tyrone town last week.
Police were yesterday also given five more days to question a 26-year-old man arrested in Scotland on Wednesday and re-arrested on Thursday, plus a 40-year-old man arrested near Omagh on Thursday.
The under-car bomb that killed Constable Kerr was blamed on dissident republicans who remain violently opposed to the peace process. The Irish Observer had warned at the beginning of 2011 that under car bombs would be used in the coming moths, as such devices are easy to place, The Irish Observer also gave clear instructions as to how such attacks could be avoided.
It has also emerged that the groups are continuing to target policemen in the wake of his murder.
Senior police sources have said the public outcry following the young officer’s death has had no influence on the mindset of extremists, who remain focused on killing members of the security forces.
Detectives have evidence the dissidents have been actively targeting PSNI personnel since the weekend murder.
Officers do not want the nature of the intelligence to be made public for investigative reasons, but they say murder plots are being uncovered at a rate of one a fortnight.
One PSNI source added: “There is absolutely no indication the community outrage has had any impact on the mindset of the dissidents.”
No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the murder of Constable Kerr.
But officers have indicated that increasing links and co-operation between disparate organisations means a specific claim is not as relevant to their investigation as it might once have been.
They believe there are nearly as many as 30 distinct groupings operating across Northern Ireland, some claiming to be the Real IRA, some Continuity IRA, some from Oglaigh na hEireann, with other groups claiming no affiliation at all.
The Irish Observer would reiterate that which has been said here time and again, young Catholics joining the PSNI must make the security of their colleagues and themselves a key priority. Do not discuss your career choice while out socialising, which has happened and which has resulted in officers being targeted. Insure that you are stationed in an area where you are unlikely to be recognised, park your car in a garage at night and carry out the checks that you have been instructed to do. There will be at least another six booby trap car bomb attacks in 2011.
Real IRA Dublin Real IRA Who Are They?
Alan Ryan (30) was arrested and quizzed earlier this year about the brutal murder of Sean Winters outside Portmarnock DART station Sunday 12th September 2010.
He was one of 10 people lifted by detectives investigating the gangland-style execution. He was later released without charge and a file is being prepared for the DPP.
It is believed Winters was shot by a Real IRA terror gang waging war with other crime/drug gangs in Dublin.
The group is also suspected of the attempted hits on gangland godfather Eamon Kelly (63) last Saturday and his associate Brian O'Reilly (41) in August.
The gang, which is viewed as criminal rather than political, is trading on the name of the Real IRA to demand money from drug dealers across Dublin.
Gardai are investigating claims that criminals have come together to take out the gang.
A group calling themselves the Criminal Action Force contacted a newspaper to claim responsibility for the murder of dissident-linked hitman Daniel Gaynor in Finglas over the summer, and a shooting at the Player's Lounge pub where three innocent men were hit in a case of mistaken identity.
Criminals:
The group claimed the Real IRA has extorted €425,000 from criminals in the past year.
They also said they have drawn up a hit-list of 12 Real IRA members. It is understood criminals from Dublin's north-side are among the most eager to see the demise of the dissident group.
A number of Alan Ryan's associates were arrested in the Winters' probe.
A 31-year-old who is regularly spotted in the company of Ryan and his brother Anthony (34) was also lifted. The man is a director of a security firm and a motor business.
Anthony Ryan has a security license from the Private Security Authority, despite being convicted in connection with terrorist offences. He was not among the 10 people arrested this week.
Others arrested in last week's swoop also have security licenses with the PSA but do not have serious convictions.
The Ryan brothers were arrested when gardai swooped on a Real IRA training camp in Meath 11 years ago. The Ryans were jailed for three years each after the raid.
Meanwhile, another one of the men arrested during the week is a kickboxer in his fifties originally from Kilmore but living in Clare
Hall area in north Dublin.
His 24-year-old daughter was also arrested. Two of his sons, 21 and 28, were also lifted as part of the operation.
Two other men, aged 23 and 24 from Clare Hall and Raheny, and a woman (22) from Donore Avenue - who is dating one of the gang leaders - were also arrested. Other members of the gang who were not picked up include two brothers from Summerhill in Dublin's north inner city.
Those arrested were all released from custody on Tuesday night and a file is being prepared for the DPP. Winters, originally from Donaghmede, was a drug dealer who was part of a major gang operating in an area of Dublin's north-side, stretching from Baldoyle to Coolock.
Suspect
He was the prime suspect in the murder of Anthony Jenkinson (28), who was beaten to death in St Anne's Park, Raheny, in April 2001 in a dispute over drug money.
His cousin Noel Deans was shot dead in Coolock in January and he had spoken about getting revenge for that killing.
The Real IRA gang was among the suspects in that killing. It is also understood that Winters developed a bad drug habit in recent times and tried to take his own life on two occasions.
He was an associate of former gang leader David 'Babyface' Lindsay (38) and Alan Napper (39) who are missing presumed dead.
Lindsay had become involved in a dispute with the gang boss known as The Panda. He planned to have his rival murdered but was double-crossed by the hit-man. Traces of blood belonging to Lindsay and Napper were discovered in a house in Co Down but their bodies have yet to be found.
Criminals already tried to take out members of the renegade Real IRA gang at the Player's Lounge Pub in Fairview over the summer, but three innocent people were shot instead.
One of the gang who had been in the pub at the time had been outside for a cigarette but returned inside just before a gunman opened fire on innocent doorman Wayne Barrett in a case of mistaken identity.
Part of a bullet is lodged in his brain and he is unlikely to ever recover from his injuries. Two customers were also injured in the indiscriminate attack.
That shooting, which was claimed by the shadowy CAF last week, was believed to be linked to the death of an armed robber in Dublin last year.
Gareth Molloy was shot dead by gardai during an attempted raid. He only took part in the raid to raise money to pay compensation to a man connected to dissidents.
Molloy bit part of the ear off an associate of the Ryan brothers during a fight in the Player's Lounge around St Patrick's Day last year.
But the bite victim informed Molloy that he had to pay €6,000 in compensation or he would be killed for the attack. It was this demand that led to him taking part in a robbery in Lucan in May last year where he was shot by gardai after firing first and ignoring calls to put down his weapon. His associates vowed revenge.
The attack on Daniel Gaynor was revenge for the shooting of Collie Owens in Finglas in July. Gaynor was the hitman in the Owens murder, which may have been ordered by the Real IRA.
As well as being suspected of attacks on Eamon Kelly and Brian O'Reilly, the gang is also understood to have targeted two notorious criminals from Finglas.
The gang called to their mother's home over the summer in a move which infuriated the pair who were not in the house at the time.
Other associates of The Panda are involved in a separate feud which claimed three lives last year. David 'Fred' Lynch (26), Tommy Joyce (20) and John 'BJ' Clarke (21) were murdered in separate attacks linked to the feud.
Clarke's brother Jamie (22) was targeted in an assassination attempt in Coolock in the early hours of Friday morning.
The father-of-one was lucky to escape with his life after a gunman fired a number of shots at him outside a pal's house on Adare Road around 1.30am, hitting him in the leg.
Incident
He was talking to John Paul Brennan outside the house where a party was being held when the gunman approached and fired at least eight shots, one hitting Clarke in the leg.
A 24-year-old man was arrested in connection with the shooting in the area shortly after the incident. He was held at Ballymun Garda Station. Clarke has not made a complaint about the attack.
Brennan, who was not injured in the attack, was himself targeted in a gun attack in Kinsealy in January 2009.
There is no evidence to suggest the attack on Clarke is linked to Winters' murder.
Background:
Since it began reporting on the activities of terrorist groups in Ireland in 2003, the Independent Monitoring Commission has tracked the activities of the self-styled 'dissident' terror groups such as the 'Real' IRA and the 'Continuity' IRA.
In all its reports in the last few years, the Commission has repeated that the 'dissidents' are heavily involved in crime, primarily tiger kidnapping, armed robbery, extortion and smuggling. In its 21st report, issued earlier this year, the Independent Monitoring Commission also said the 'Continuity' IRA was involved in "brothel keeping".
Gardai in Dublin now see these groups as centrally involved in organised crime, including the murders of ordinary criminals who have refused to pay their extortion demands or who have otherwise crossed them.
Sean Winters, the 42-year-old north Dublin drug dealer who was shot dead as he walked along Station Road in Portmarnock last Sunday night is, ostensibly, a victim of republican gunmen. There was no political motivation whatsoever in his murder by the 'Continuity' IRA. He was murdered as part of a turf war over the distribution and sale of drugs in north Dublin.
The dissidents have completed the journey by republicans in Ireland from self-sacrificing idealists to pure criminals, in the same way that the republican revolutionaries of mid-19th Century Italy moved from the ideals of Guiseppe Garibaldi to the entirely criminal mafioso.
The same journey in Ireland began in the dying days of the Provisional IRA. Its members, particularly the Dublin-based brigade, moved from vigilantism against drug dealers to accepting bribes from particular drug gangs and then to carrying out assassinations of rivals to their dealers. Within a decade of Sinn Fein and the IRA leading marches of Concerned Parents Against Drugs to the homes of heroin dealers, the same people were heavily involved in the drug industry while still trading under the name of the Provisional IRA.
The Provos shot dead Joseph Foran, 38, a notorious gangster and heroin dealer, in Finglas in February 2000, not because of his involvement in the drug trade but because he refused to pay their extortion demands. Two months later, they shot dead Thomas Byrne, 41, an innocent man from the north inner city who had stood up to one of the senior Dublin IRA men who was heavily involved in hijacking goods containers from Dublin Docks.
In July 2001, the Dublin IRA shot dead Seamus 'Shavo' Hogan, 40, in south Dublin, passing the murder off as part of its campaign to rid Dublin of career criminals and drug traffickers. Hogan was, in fact, shot because he refused to pay protection and was involved in disputes with another south-side drug gang that was paying money to the IRA.
Joseph Cummins, 48, another career criminal, was shot dead in Tallaght in December 2001 because he too refused to pay up.
While the IRA was murdering to order in Dublin, the other republican terror group, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), which had been the paramilitary wing of the Republican Socialist Party, went headlong into the drug trade and became involved in feuding with Dublin gangs which it sought to control. Over the last decade, the memberships of both organisations in Dublin, and to a considerable degree in Northern Ireland, have merged.
The major shift from token republicanism for the IRA and INLA came in 2005 when the IRA announced the end of its 'armed campaign' and then finally announced its disbandment in 2008.
In response to the disbandment, the dissidents began moving into the crime territory which the Provisional IRA had begun to inhabit. Former Provisional IRA criminals, left with no name to claim, began firstly associating with and then adopting the mantles of the 'Real' and 'Continuity' IRAs. The evolution from the time of the 1981 Maze hunger strikes, when IRA men were prepared to die for the 'cause', to pure criminality has been completed.
Bernard Dempsey, 53, a former senior Provisional IRA man in Dublin and leader of the Concerned Parents Against Drugs in the south inner city in the Eighties, is serving life imprisonment for the murder of innocent James Curran in the Green Lizard Pub in Francis Street in 2005. Dempsey shot his victim dead when Curran confronted Dempsey after he watched him accepting an envelope full of cash from a notorious south city drug gang.
Dempsey transferred his allegiances to the 'Real' IRA and is now serving his sentence in its wing of Portlaoise Prison. His main former Provisional IRA associates in south Dublin now term themselves 'Real' IRA also. They have close links with the drug syndicate that has grown around the gang headed by the expatriate criminal Freddie Thompson.
On the north side of the Liffey, the former Provisionals are also in league with the dissidents and with the drug gangs. The former IRA gang which assassinated another innocent Dubliner, Joseph Rafferty, 28, in April 2004, is involved in the northside feuding that has been running for the past four years since the imprisonment for life of Christy Griffin for the rape of his partner's young daughter. Former IRA and INLA members are also involved in the latest round of feuding which started with the murder of gang boss Eamon Dunne, shot dead at the Fassaugh House pub in Cabra in April.
Gardai believe he was murdered by members of his own gang who thought he was plotting to kill them. The gang has split and the resulting turf war has drawn in the dissidents. So far there have been two deaths and four people seriously injured.
One of the most remarkable changes to have taken place among the republicans is that the new generation are drug takers as well as dealers. Last month witnesses told gardai that the young gunman who opened fire, with a gun in each hand, on the Players Lounge pub in Fairview, seriously injuring the innocent doorman and two customers, was "high as a kite".
As is almost universal with drug gangs, the dissidents are prone to splitting and feuding. There are dissident elements on both sides in the current feud in north Dublin.
Gardai say that the names 'Continuity' and 'Real' are apparently interchangeable. The group involved in the assassination of Sean Winters last week is currently using the name 'Continuity', but five years ago it was terming itself 'Real' and part of the group led by the founder of the Real IRA, Michael McKevitt.
Prisoners on the dissident wing in Portlaoise Prison regularly fall out with each other. Last year one of the prisoners who had been the 'officer commanding' on the Real IRA landing was apparently expelled amid accusations of cocaine dealing. The 'republicans' are believed to be the main source of drugs and mobile phones coming into the jail for ordinary prisoners.
The dissidents were also behind the campaign of arson and grenade attacks on head shops. They carried out the attacks, gardai believe, as part of their 'protection' duties for the drug dealers.
Outside Dublin, the same patterns have emerged. In Derry and the north-west, they have been carrying out a campaign of shooting drug dealers who refuse to pay them protection. In Newry and the Border area, where some of the 'Real' IRA now term themselves 'Republican Action Against Drugs', local people say the young members are mainly heavy drug users. One 'Continuity' group with members in the Dundalk, Dublin and Limerick areas is heavily involved in prostitution and the trafficking of young women from Eastern Europe where they have established links with cigarette gangs.
In Dublin last week, one Continuity group issued a statement disavowing those (former 'Real' IRA now terming themselves 'Continuity') members responsible for the murder of Sean Winters.
Senior Garda sources say it seems unlikely that the downward drift into criminality will be reversed. The exposure of the Provisional IRA's drift into crime in Dublin was one of the main reasons for the erosion of Sinn Fein's electoral base in traditional working-class areas. The dissidents do not have any public support and no political wing or electoral base on which to build a political movement. Without this, they have become criminal groups merging with ordinary criminal gangs and being drawn into their feuds.
Names
Lurgan man Paul McCaugherty is jailed for 20 years for a dissident republican gun smuggling plot which was uncovered after an MI5 sting operation.
McCaugherty was found guilty of attempting to import weapons and explosives.
Dermot Declan Gregory from Crossmaglen, was found guilty of making a Portuguese property available for the purpose of terrorism. He was sentenced to four years.
Gerard McGarrigle, 46, from Mount Carmel Heights in Strabane was sentenced to five years in prison.
Desmond Donnelly, 58, from Drumall, Lisnarick, Fermanagh and Jim Murphy, 63, from Floraville in Enniskillen, were given three years and nine months.
