As the end of the Adams and McGuinness leadership of Sinn Féin looms on the horizon Gerard Howlin reviews a book that wonders if violent dissidents might succeed them

Nine suspected members of the Real IRA were being held by gardaí in Limerick last night following early morning raids in the city and county that involved more than 50 gardaí.

The implications of Alan Ryan’s assassination may take time to unravel, writes Cormac O’Keeffe

The show of strength by the Real IRA (RIRA) at the funeral of terror boss Alan Ryan has been condemned as "reprehensible" today by Justice Minister Alan Shatter.

A volley of shots were fired over the coffin of murdered Real IRA boss Alan Ryan as he was given a full republican military funeral today.

Gardaí have arrested a man in connection with the murder of terror boss Alan Ryan last Monday.

A man is being questioned in connection with the murder of Real IRA boss Alan Ryan who will be buried tomorrow.

Gardaí have mounted a series of armed checkpoints across the north side of Dublin city following the shooting dead of Alan Ryan yesterday.

Gardaí are bracing themselves for retaliation against gangland figures after a senior leader of the Real IRA in Dublin was shot dead.

The number of suspected terrorists arrested in Ireland reached a new high last year.

THE conviction of Michael Campbell in a Lithuanian court yesterday marks the end of an international “sting” involving the police and security services of three nations.

MORE than 60 suspected terrorists were arrested in Ireland last year, the third highest figure in the EU.

Northern Ireland's First Minister has said the raising of the threat level to Britain from dissident republicans is "worrying".

Dissident republican groups remain small and isolated organisations, but experts warn they are growing in size and expertise.

Dissident republican groups opposed to the North's peace process are a dangerous threat, but have no support for their actions, a watchdog said today.

THE Real IRA is “muscling” its way into communities and stepping up its campaign against drug dealers, according to gardaí and community activists.

Two former members of the British Army's Ulster Defence Regiment have been warned about a threat to their lives from the Real IRA, according to a local DUP Assembly member.

ON his visit to the US this week, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said “a tiny, evil minority sought to destroy what the people of Ireland have built”.

GARDAÍ were questioning five people yesterday as part of an investigation into the Continuity IRA, a dissident republican group.

The devolution of policing and justice powers from Westminster to Stormont could help combat crime, a watchdog monitoring paramilitary violence said today.

Failure to transfer policing and justice powers to Stormont is creating a window of opportunity for republican dissidents, Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward has warned.

A senior detective who investigated the Omagh bombing bent the rules when probing other serious crimes, a court heard today.

A photograph of one of five men accused of carrying out the Omagh bombing stuck out like a sore thumb in an identification album, it was claimed in court today.

One of the men accused of carrying out the Omagh bombing told detectives the loss of innocent lives was a disaster, a Dublin court heard today.

A landmark civic court case against five men accused of carrying out one of the worst atrocities in the North will reopen in Dublin today.

A SENIOR garda attempted to block a statement that claimed he had no concerns about terrorism in Northern Ireland, the Omagh civil action case heard yesterday.

A senior garda attempted to block a statement which claimed he had no concerns about terrorism in the North, the Omagh civil action case heard today.

Dissident Republicans planned to ship weapons and ammunition from the US to a school in Donegal, the Omagh civil court case heard today.

A man who was shot dead just yards from a church in Ireland three months ago was the first victim of the hard-line republican group Oglaigh na hEireann, it was revealed today.

THERE was a sixfold rise in the number of terrorism-related arrests in Ireland last year, according to an EU report.

A PSNI officer was shot in the chest in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, yesterday in the second attack of its kind in the North in less than a week.

REPUBLICAN groups such as the INLA and the Continuity IRA are engaged in serious crime in the Republic, a new report claims.

BRITISH Premier Tony Blair last night insisted there would be no backsliding on the North’s devolution deadline ahead of a crunch showdown with Ian Paisley.

A recently-formed hardline republican terror group in the North is becoming more dangerously active, security chiefs in were warned today.

The man gardaí believe is a leader of the Real IRA in the greater Dublin region has been granted bail in the Special Criminal Court today, despite strenuous Garda objections.

The Omagh bombing was carried out jointly by the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA rather than just by the RIRA alone, the trial of the man accused of murdering the 29 victims of the 1998 atrocity was told by an FBI agent today.

Bombs made in the run-up to the dissident republican explosion in Omagh, which killed 29 people, were all made by the same person, a witness told a court in Northern Ireland today.

Two new hardline republican groups are operating within the North, the latest report from ceasefire watchdog the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) claimed today.

The Court of Criminal Appeal is due to deliver judgement today on Michael McKevitt's challenge to his conviction for leading the Real IRA.

A Garda ballistics expert has told the Special Criminal Court that he found no evidence of any explosive substances in a car that had been stopped at gunpoint on the N4 near Mullingar.

Hardline republican terror groups tried to coax weapons from Provisional IRA members after the organisation announced an end to its armed campaign, it was claimed today.

The trial of three alleged Real IRA members arrested after a major garda surveillance organisation against the dissident terrorist organisation was adjourned today until next week due to the illness of a judge at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.

Three alleged Real IRA members were arrested after a major garda surveillance organisation against the dissident terrorist organisation, the Special Criminal Court was told today.

Hardline republican terror groups opposed to the peace process are still trying to mount a more effective terror campaign, the British and Irish Governments were warned today.