Ruthless recruits 'are not so smart'

RECRUITS to the Real IRA are very young, ruthless but not the sharpest knives in the drawer.

This is particularly true in the Munster area.

Most of the organisation's leadership, the older experienced operatives who switched allegiance from the Provisionals, are in jail.

There are a handful of hardened former Provisionals still operating along the Border, but they are said to expend most of their energies involved in criminal enterprises, rather than planning attacks.

In the vacuum caused by the imprisonment here, in the North and in Britain, of some 70 individuals connected to the Real IRA, the organisation has opened its doors to just about anybody. It has attracted recruits, mostly young men, in Cork and Limerick.

They are ruthless, but most are not smart and not careful, say gardaí.

One senior garda source warned that the organisation still represents a major threat. Its members are involved in a range of illegal activities and money gained from these may be used to fund bombing operations.