'Increase in bomb attacks a threat'

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell has warned that the threat of dissident republicans mounting bombing campaigns could increase in the run-up to the November deadline for the restoration of the power-sharing executive in the North.

Mr McDowell made the comment just 24 hours after the PSNI foiled a bomb plot and arrested four suspected members of the Continuity IRA in Lurgan, Co Armagh.

Speaking at a garda graduation ceremony at Templemore yesterday, the minister said he believed the CIRA and the Real IRA had no more than 200 members each.

"There are two main dissident republican groups, both attempting to disrupt the peace process and blow it off course.

"They are also intent on creating death and destruction in Northern Ireland," the minister warned.

"They believe in some mad way that this will advance the cause of a united Ireland."

Mr McDowell said that a small group of fanatics wouldn't derail the peace process, adding that their attempts would be "forlorn" because "the will of the [majority of] people is far stronger than the will of a few fanatical terrorists".

Officers believe dissident republicans were constructing the 200lb device for an imminent attack.

Mr McDowell praised the work of the PSNI and the Garda Siochána, who he said had foiled bombing attempts in the past.

Four men, aged between 22 and 46, were arrested following the surveillance-led police bust on a breaker's yard on the Antrim Road.