Border infrastru ctu re ‘wou ld be target for dissident violence’

ANY infrastructure on the Border will give violent dissident republicans an opportunity to rally, boost recruitment and attack, senior PSNI officers have warned MPs.

Drew Harris, the Deputy Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said there remained a severe terrorist threat in the North.

This year there have been four attempts to kill police officers, as well as 58 shooting incidents and 33 bombing incidents, he said.

Mr Harris told the House of Commons Brexit Committee during a hearing in Armagh that dissident terrorists were focused on the Border issue in the context of Brexit.

“Obviously, violent dissident republican groups see this as an area that is contentious, which will give them in effect a further rallying call to try and engender support and try and drive their recruitment,” Mr Harris said.

“It is of concern. We know from information that we have that they have a focus on this, that they see it as an opportunity. The UK have said that there will be no infrastructure on the Border because that will be an obvious point for dissident groups to rally around and attack, but also try to engender support and sympathy in local communities and further afield.”

Assistant chief constable Stephen Martin told the committee that an attack in Northern Ireland from dissidents remained highly likely. He said that while the dissidents did not have the capability and capacity that the IRA had during the Troubles, they had demonstrated an ability to kill.

“If there was infrastructure such as you describe, whether it be buildings or people that re-emphasised the Border in the physical, tangible, visible, way, I think it is highly foreseeable that dissident republicans would seek to take action against that, and that could include attacking the buildings and the people,” he said.

Asked if he believed that threat would exist even for cameras, Mr Harris said there already exists an extensive number plate recognition system in Northern Ireland, and it gets regular criminal damage.

The committee was also hearing evidence from UK Revenue and Customs. Evidence in private was heard from a number of trade bodies as well as drinks giant Diageo. Members also visited the Border between Co Armagh and Co Monaghan at the village of Middletown.