Irish terror arrests on the increase

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

The 62 people included 57 suspected republican paramilitaries and five alleged Islamic militants.

The number of arrests place Ireland third behind France (219) and Spain (118) and ahead of the Britain (45).

Ireland was one of only three countries where terrorism arrests were up on 2009, according to a report by Europol, the EU police agency.

The 2010 figures are the highest in Ireland since Europol started producing its terrorism assessment report.

There were 33 republican arrests in Ireland in 2009, 52 in 2008 and 24 in 2007. There were no arrests related to Islamic terrorism in 2009, three in 2008, and zero in 2007.

The five Islamic arrests relate to an Irish-US operation in March 2010 targeting an alleged Islamic conspiracy to murder Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who drew a derogatory cartoon of Mohammed.

The EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2011 said 40 terrorist attacks were carried out by dissident republican groups in the North.

The report said: “As a result, 57 individuals were arrested in the Republic of Ireland, some for offences directly connected to attacks in Northern Ireland. The majority were members of the Real IRA (RIRA).”

It said RIRA and the Continuity IRA (CIRA) “continued to pose a threat” in Britain.

“The size and capability of these terrorist groups has increased in recent years,” it added. “Attacks were principally on law-enforcement personnel and premises, and they involved attack methods such as vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices using home-made explosives.”

The report said 18 prosecutions were taken in Ireland in 2010, resulting in 15 convictions and three acquittals.

In his foreword, Europol director Rob Wainwright said terrorism continued to pose “a serious threat” to the EU and its citizens.

The report said 179 people were arrested for offences linked to Islamic terrorism. It said the proportion that related to the preparation of attacks jumped from 10% in 2009 to 47% in 2010.

It said there were three Islamic terrorist attacks in 2010, at least two of which could have inflicted mass casualties if successful.

The report said only a fifth of the 179 people arrested were members of Islamic terrorist groups and most were members of local autonomous jihadist cells or self-radicalised “lone actors”.

It said the proportion who had EU citizenship was “further increasing” all the time. “This suggests that home-grown terrorism and the extreme radicalisation of EU citizens is an ongoing cause of concern.”