BRITISH PRIME Minister David Cameron has acknowledged that the threat from republican dissidents is increasing following this week’s bombing in Derry and rising fears of an attack in Britain, but he insisted that the public will be protected by “every means at our disposal”.
Speaking to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Mr Cameron gave an unusually high place to Northern Ireland – which has not been mentioned at all in speeches by his predecessor, Labour’s Gordon Brown.
“Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and John Major before them worked hard to bring peace to Northern Ireland. I will continue their work. As the threat of dissident republican terrorists intensifies, I want to make it clear that I will protect our people with every means possible,” he said.
The speech came after Tuesday’s car bomb attack in Derry, which has since been claimed by the Real IRA, which damaged a hotel and a bank and injured two Police Service of Northern Ireland officers.
Emphasising his unionist credentials, Mr Cameron said: “I want to make something else clear – when I say I am prime minister of the United Kingdom I really mean it. England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.
“We’re weaker apart, stronger together, and together is how we must remain.” On Bloody Sunday, the Conservative leader said he had apologised for the conduct of British paratroopers because the UK’s “reputation is not just about might. It’s about doing what is right. When this country has got it wrong, we’ll admit it”.
Newly elected Ulster Unionist leader Tom Elliott, who attended two days of the Conservative conference, welcomed the speech, saying Mr Cameron had made clear his “commitment to the union”.
“Today’s speech was hugely positive and reaffirmed the prime minister’s commitment to Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom. We can have no doubt that David Cameron envisages a strong United Kingdom, with Northern Ireland at its heart, and that is very welcome.”