Northern Ireland dissident attacks on the rise
Updated on 18 August 2010
Security sources are concerned at a spike in the number of attacks dissident republican groups are attempting in Northern Ireland, writes Channel 4 News reporter Carl Dinnen writes from Belfast.
Last year there were 11 attacks or attempted attacks, so far this year there have been 33.
The sources say there are signs that the dissidents have worked out how to make some devices work, including car bombs, but they are keen to point out that in the recent spate of attacks, most have failed.
The attempt that has raised eyebrows here is the bomb under the army officer's car in Bangor two weeks ago. That's not an area republicans are strong in, not somewhere it would be easy for them to operate.
It only takes 10 seconds to attach and arm a bomb under the driver's seat of a car, a retired police officer told me. But to find the right car at the right address is the tricky part; this demonstrates a certain reach in the dissidents' intelligence gathering, even if their technology let them down.
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But these are still busy times for the army’s bomb disposal teams here. Yesterday alone the Ammunition Technical Officer was sent to four different alerts. They turned up three hoaxes and one pipe bomb – a kind of improvised grenade.
A longer term worry in security circles is the number of young people getting involved in violent dissident republican activity – the Independent Monitoring Commission, which tracks paramilitary activity here, says both the Real IRA and Continuity IRA are actively recruiting young men with "no previous terrorist experience" to their ranks.
Now it’s a risky business joining these groups; sources say a significant number of arrests and charges on both sides of the border is having a disruptive effect on paramilitary operations. But there are concerns that recent street violence is being used to radicalise more young men.
The possibility of economic deprivation driving alienation is also regarded as a growing risk; Northern Ireland's economy is heavily reliant on the public sector; it's vulnerable.
In some ways the dissident groups are said to be where the Provisional IRA was in the early 1970s; building a campaign of violence with little political back up. The difference is that Northern Ireland, and the nationalist community in particular, is in a very different situation than the 70’s. There are republicans in government now and significant nationalist support for the police.
