‘High alert’ over potential terror attacks on 1916 events
Fears raised as prison officer is targeted
SECURITY services on both sides of the border are on high alert over a potential attack on the 1916 Centenary commemorations by dissident republicans.
Fears of a deadly attack were renewed yesterday after a 52year- old prison officer was wounded when a small bomb partly detonated under his van in Belfast.
The man had just driven away from his home in Protestant east Belfast to go to work when police believe the bomb fell off of the vehicle as it drove over a speed bump. The officer, a 28-year veteran of the
‘I need the help of the community’
prison service, underwent surgery for unspecified wounds and was reported to be in a stable condition.
In the last two months the possibility of an attack has been highlighted at least twice by experienced officers.
The big concern is that terrorist splinter groups will attempt a spectacular attack as the Republic honours those who fought and died in the 1916 Easter Rising.
Among these small but lethal renegade groups are the Continuity IRA, the Real IRA, the ‘new’ IRA and Óglaigh na hÉireann (ONH).
One of An Garda Síochána’s most senior officers, Assistant Commissioner John O’Mahoney, warned in January that the threat of an attack around the period of commemorations was ‘very much in mind’.
And Stephen Martin, assistant chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, issued a further warning in the wake of yesterday’s attack in Belfast.
Mr Martin said that while the terror threat level in the North has been categorised as ‘severe’ for a number of years, he was now describing it as ‘the upper end of severe’.
‘I believe there are people within dissident republican groupings who want to mark this centenary by killing police officers, prison officers and soldiers,’ he said.
‘I am saying that publicly, I am saying it deliberately, and I am saying I need the help of the community. That is not inevitable, this does not need to happen, but we need the support of the community.’
Community and church leaders from across the North have united in condemnation of yesterday’s attack.
Northern Secretary Theresa Villiers described the murder bid as vicious and appalling. She said: ‘Like all his colleagues in the prison service, this officer serves the whole of the community, in stark contrast to the people who carried out this appalling and violent crime.’
Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness, the region’s First and Deputy First Ministers, used social media to denounce the perpetrators before issuing a joint statement in which they described it as ‘despicable and shocking’ attack.
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with this senior prison officer and his family as he is treated for his injuries in hospital,’ the ministers said.
‘We join all right-thinking people in condemning these cowardly actions. As a prison officer, he is someone who serves and protects our community and we are united in our rejection of this attack.
‘Prison service workers have our full support as they play their part in building a peaceful society.
‘The perpetrators offer nothing but hatred and fear.’
Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan expressed concern at what he called a callous and cowardly incident.
Sue McAllister, director general of the North’s Prison Service, said that her thoughts were with the victim and his family, adding that his colleagues would not be deterred.
‘This was a despicable act and an attack on us all,’ she said.
An attack on the 1916 celebrations would not be the first time that dissidents have tried to use historically significant events to launch a spectacular strike.
During Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Ireland in 2011, which the Real IRA called the ‘final insult’, a number of suspects were arrested and a pipe bomb was found on a bus bound for Dublin on the first day of the trip.
A number of people are currently awaiting trial in the Special Criminal Court i n Dublin i n relation to incidents.
‘Despicable and shocking’