Dissident republicans are in danger of causing another atrocity on the scale of the Omagh bombing, Northern Ireland’s police chief warned today.
Chief Constable Matt Baggott visited the scene of last week’s car bomb attack which narrowly missed claiming lives when it exploded outside a Derry police station.
Since then, separate booby trap bombs in Co Down targeted a soldier and a policewoman, while gardaí arrested five men and uncovered a haul of ammunition and bomb-making equipment in Cos Louth and Monaghan
Mr Baggott warned that dissident groups opposed to the peace process were behaving in a reckless manner that echoed the 1998 Omagh attack when a car bomb left by the Real IRA in the middle of the Co Tyrone town killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins.
“These are the same people, or the same mindset that ultimately led to the Omagh tragedy all those years ago,” Mr Baggott said of those behind the current spate of violence.
“They have no solution for the future, except to go back to the past. And they are bringing that recklessness increasingly to our streets," Mr Baggott said. “We need the public to fully support us and don’t allow these people to do what they want to do. They are dangerous. We need to be realistic about them and keep them firmly on the back foot.”
The Real IRA claimed responsibility for last Tuesday’s attack on the Strand Road PSNI station in Derry, where a taxi driver was forced at gunpoint to drive a bomb containing 200lb of homemade explosives to the base.
The device detonated earlier than the bombers had predicted and exploded at 3.20am while police were still evacuating the scene. There were no injuries, but the police station and surrounding businesses were damaged.
On Wednesday an unexploded bomb fell off a car owned by a British army major in Bangor, Co Down. On Saturday a similar device was found under the car of a Catholic police officer in Kilkeel, also in Co Down.
Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson ruled out talks with dissident republicans today.
Political representatives of the dissident groups have already rejected an invitation to talks by Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, but Mr Paterson made clear there will be no moves by the Government to start a negotiating process in a bid to persuade the dissidents to end the attacks.
Mr Paterson insisted today that the Continuity IRA and the Real IRA would not be allowed to disrupt the political process.
He told BBC Radio Ulster: “You cannot have any meaningful talks with people who are not committed to peaceful means. They are not listening. They are disparate. They are a very small armed group with no discipline or clear focus on where they are going.”
A major security operation is due to be held in Derry next Saturday when thousands of bandsmen and members of the loyalist Apprentice Boys take part in their annual parade.
PA