Republic’s terrorism-related arrests rise by 20 in a year

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

A terrorism report by the European police agency Europol said there was an increasing number of terrorism attacks and arrests in the EU in 2007.

It said Islamic terrorism posed a continuing serious threat to EU member states. However, Ireland did not report any arrests or attempted attacks connected with Islamic terrorism.

The EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2008 said Ireland reported the sixth-highest number of terrorism-related arrests in 2007. There were 24 such arrests last year, compared with just four in 2006.

“In Ireland, law enforcement authorities witnessed an increase in the number of terrorism-related arrests in 2007 compared to 2006.

“This, however, is mainly due to an increase in criminal activity by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA).

“The arrests were linked to an increase in criminal activity by this group in 2007. The majority of the arrested were charged with membership of an unlawful organisation.”

Garda sources say the INLA, including its unit in Dublin, has become embroiled in a number of violent disputes with criminal gangs in a battle over the control of drug dealing. The unit is also suspected of selling pipe-bombs and military grenades to criminal gangs.

The report added: “Based on capability and intent, the threat from the Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) and Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA) is estimated to be moderate to substantial.”

The report said 2007 saw “great strides forward” in the political process in the North, including the restoration of full power to the Northern Ireland Assembly in May.

“An important milestone was the announcement by the nationalist party, Sinn Féin, that it would recognise and support the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and participate in policing bodies.

“In view of this historical decision, the dissident terrorist group RIRA vowed to continue attacks against Police and British forces until a full withdrawal of troops.”

In total, there were 1,044 terrorism arrests across the EU, with France (409), Spain (261) and Britain (203) accounting for the bulk. There were 583 attempted or successful terrorist attacks in 2007, again with the vast majority taking place in Spain (279) and France (267).

These incidents overwhelmingly related to disputes involving the Basques in Spain and Corsican separatists in France with only four incidents related to Islamic terrorism in 2007, a drop on 2006, but the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain reported that the general threat of an attack by Islamist terrorists on their territory increased during 2007. In France and Italy, the threat remains high.