Dissident republicans who are threatening Catholic members of the North's 26 district policing boards are out of touch with their community, Sinn Féin said tonight.
Mid Ulster MP Martin McGuinness issued his strongest condemnation yet of the Real IRA and Continuity IRA, denouncing them as "militarily useless" after thelatest attack on a car belonging to a local policing liaison board member in Derry.
The Sinn Féin MP said: "There can be no justification whatsoever for theseattacks.
"I think those responsible need to recognise how politically isolated theyare.
"They need to understand that what they are doing is totally at variance withwhere the broad nationalist and republican opinion on the island of Ireland is.
"We have watched over the course of the last 16 years another gang involvedin all sorts of activities which are designed to disrupt the prospect of thepeace process and disrupt the process itself.
"The emergence of a second gang over the course of the last six or sevenyears has meant there are two organisations which have come on to the scene whoare, as far as the republican constituency is concerned, militarily useless."
His comments followed an arson attack on a car belonging to policingpartnership board member Marian Quinn outside her home in the Galiagh area ofDerry.
Mrs Quinn had previously received a bullet through the post and had an objectplaced under her daughter's car sparking a bomb alert outside former SDLP leaderJohn Hume's constituency office.
The incident was the latest in a series of attacks and threats Catholic localpolicing board members.
A car belonging to Strabane District Policing Partnership member ArthurMcGarrigle was set alight on Tuesday outside the school where he teaches.
Cookstown District Policing Partnership member Teresa Rooney on Tuesday becamethe second member of a board to quit after threats to her and her family.
A member of the Fermanagh District Partnership Board Cathal O'Dolan stood downlast week.
Most of the incidents have been blamed on the Real IRA.
Mrs Quinn today said she was now considering quitting her local police liaisonbody.
But the deputy chairman of the Policing Board for Northern Ireland, DenisBradley, urged people to stand up to the dissident republican threats.
"The only way you ever beat bullies is to stand up to them," he said.
"People who know who might be in the Real IRA, and who is supporting thiscampaign, need to take a stance.
"Churches, unions, business people and even Sinn Féin are a big part of theCatholic community and it's up to them to say they won't accept this."
Mr McGuinness also denied claims that Provisional IRA members were behind someof the police board threats.
He said those allegations were generated by members of British militaryintelligence who wanted to "sabotage" efforts to restore devolution inNorthern Ireland.
"It doesn't escape people's notice that whenever there is a ray of hopewithin the political process we see these claims from people from thesecurocratic end of things who have not been well disposed towards ourcontribution to the peace process," the Sinn Fein MP said.
PA