'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.