An alleged republican threat to poison English water supplies in 1999 may have been the work of loyalists trying to smear republicans, British embassy officials in Dublin believed.
However, the threat to use weed killer to poison supplies was taken seriously because it was deemed to be technically feasible, newly released government documents show.
The threat was made in letters to the British embassy and the Papal Nunciature in Dublin in June 1999 on behalf of what was called the “Republican Revenge Group”.
Unless the British government announced its intention to withdraw from “occupied Ireland” by the following day, the group threatened to introduce weed killer into the water supply in England.
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Though far fetched, those responsible had put thought into the plan and the threatening letter was “cohesive and literate”, and it had been sent to the right people in Britain, including water authorities.
However, the British embassy in Dublin thought it might be a dirty trick by loyalists because it referred throughout to “HMG” (Her Majesty’s Government), which “no self-respecting republican would ever do”.
Most people who drank such contaminated water would suffer nothing worse than a stomach upset, though it could threaten the lives of babies, and of people on dialysis.
The media in London – including London-based RTÉ and Irish newspaper journalists – were asked not to run the story, and did not do so for fear of causing panic over what might well be a hoax.
The decision not to publish was taken on foot of pledges that full details would be disclosed if a real threat was established and that the public would be informed.
