1.2.05
IRA2
*received from One Ireland
Real IRA 'recruiting for new North campaign'
30 January 2005 By Barry O'Kelly
Sunday Business Post
The Real IRA (RIRA) is believed to have begun a new
recruitment drive as part of a renewed effort to
launch a campaign in the North.
The organisation, which split from the Provisional IRA
in 1997, now has around 150 members in the Republic,
according to garda and republican sources.
"There are a lot of meetings taking place around the
country. They are actively recruiting," said a Special
Branch detective. RIRA members in the Republic are
primarily involved in training, sourcing and
delivering bomb-making materials, and raising finance.
However, the dissident group behind the Omagh bombing
now lacks bomb-makers with any significant experience.
"There are plenty of members in Dublin and Limerick,
but they're down here, not in the North," said a
source close to the RIRA.
In the North, the RIRA's strongholds are in Derry and
Belfast and in border areas, the source said.
Three months ago, the Independent Monitoring
Commission reported that the breakaway group remained
a serious threat.
The commission said that the group had access to
"considerable quantity of arms and equipment". It said
that local units had "considerable autonomy".
The commission concluded that the organisation
remained "a threat to security force personnel" in the
North.
"A wider range of targets could not be ruled out,
including in Britain. The basic posit ion on RIRA has
not changed," it said.
The commission claimed that the RIRA had two distinct
factions. "In Northern Ireland we believe it has
undertaken a number of postal bomb attacks and threats
against prison officers, people involved in the new
policing arrangements and senior politicians," it
said.
"It has also ordered at least one local exiling. It
undertook a serious shooting attack against a PSNI
station in September.
"The organisation seeks to improve its
intelligence-gathering ability, and to improve
engineering capacity and access to weaponry. It trains
members in the use of guns and explosives. It
continues to attract new members, and its senior
members are committed to launching attacks on security
forces.
"We conclude that RIRA remains a considerable threat.
"We believe it will continue to be active, even if its
capabilities do not always match its aspirations."
In October 2003, 35 RIRA members held in Portlaoise
Prison, including some of its leading figures, called
on the leadership outside the jail to disband the
organisation.
They said that the leadership had "forfeited all moral
authority", a claim rejected by the RIRA army council,
which has vowed to continue its armed campaign.
*received from One Ireland
Real IRA 'recruiting for new North campaign'
30 January 2005 By Barry O'Kelly
Sunday Business Post
The Real IRA (RIRA) is believed to have begun a new
recruitment drive as part of a renewed effort to
launch a campaign in the North.
The organisation, which split from the Provisional IRA
in 1997, now has around 150 members in the Republic,
according to garda and republican sources.
"There are a lot of meetings taking place around the
country. They are actively recruiting," said a Special
Branch detective. RIRA members in the Republic are
primarily involved in training, sourcing and
delivering bomb-making materials, and raising finance.
However, the dissident group behind the Omagh bombing
now lacks bomb-makers with any significant experience.
"There are plenty of members in Dublin and Limerick,
but they're down here, not in the North," said a
source close to the RIRA.
In the North, the RIRA's strongholds are in Derry and
Belfast and in border areas, the source said.
Three months ago, the Independent Monitoring
Commission reported that the breakaway group remained
a serious threat.
The commission said that the group had access to
"considerable quantity of arms and equipment". It said
that local units had "considerable autonomy".
The commission concluded that the organisation
remained "a threat to security force personnel" in the
North.
"A wider range of targets could not be ruled out,
including in Britain. The basic posit ion on RIRA has
not changed," it said.
The commission claimed that the RIRA had two distinct
factions. "In Northern Ireland we believe it has
undertaken a number of postal bomb attacks and threats
against prison officers, people involved in the new
policing arrangements and senior politicians," it
said.
"It has also ordered at least one local exiling. It
undertook a serious shooting attack against a PSNI
station in September.
"The organisation seeks to improve its
intelligence-gathering ability, and to improve
engineering capacity and access to weaponry. It trains
members in the use of guns and explosives. It
continues to attract new members, and its senior
members are committed to launching attacks on security
forces.
"We conclude that RIRA remains a considerable threat.
"We believe it will continue to be active, even if its
capabilities do not always match its aspirations."
In October 2003, 35 RIRA members held in Portlaoise
Prison, including some of its leading figures, called
on the leadership outside the jail to disband the
organisation.
They said that the leadership had "forfeited all moral
authority", a claim rejected by the RIRA army council,
which has vowed to continue its armed campaign.
