Brexit may be a rallying call for terrorism: Drew Harris

Garda commissioner Drew Harris has expressed fears that dissident republicans would use a hard border post-Brexit as a “rallying call” for terrorism.

He said he was meeting PSNI chief constable George Hamilton in two weeks at a major cross-border crime conference to try and be “ahead of the game” before the final shape of Brexit emerges.

Mr Harris, the former PSNI deputy chief constable, said he hoped to take the Garda-PSNI relationship to “the next stage” in his meeting with his former boss.

In his first appearance before the Oireachtas justice committee, he told Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Jim O’Callaghan that more gardaí were being deployed to the border.

He recognised that people along the border were worried over “travelling criminals”, robberies and driving-related anti-social behaviour.

He said there were issues where a serious crime would be committed in one jurisdiction and the perpetrators are in another and how evidential issues were going to be managed by the respective criminal justice agencies.

He said he was particularly concerned at organised crime exploiting tariff differences for their activities and said that could mean “additional funding to terrorist groups”.

He said that these groups, dissident republicans in particular, might use the hard border as an “emotional driver” for their particular campaigns.

“We want to avoid anything like that — them using this as a rallying call,” the Garda boss said.

In the forthcoming meeting, he said he wanted to take the Garda-PSNI relationship “to the next stage” and expand co-operation beyond investigation and intelligence sharing to sharing personnel, skills and training.

Committee chairman Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin pushed him over progressing the Garda investigations into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, in which 33 people were killed, and seeking the co-operation of the PSNI in accessing information.

The commissioner asked the chair for time to consider the matter and said he would reply in writing.

Meanwhile, Mr Harris has met with Garda whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe and apologised to him on behalf of the force.