Ireland ranked second in EU for arrests of terror suspects
A total of 69 people were arrested on terrorism-related offences in 2011 — the second highest number across the EU.
The 69 people arrested included 68 suspected republican paramilitaries and one suspected Islamic terrorist.
Ireland overtook Spain as having the second highest number of terrorist arrests. France had by far the highest number, at 172.
Data compiled by the EU police agency Europol show that terrorism-related arrests have continued to increase in Ireland over the years — from 31 in 2009, to 62 in 2010 and 69 in 2011.
The EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2012 said Ireland and France had the most successful conviction rates. Of the nine cases where verdicts were handed down in Ireland last year, eight ended in a conviction.
The report said the Real IRA (RIRA), Oglaigh na hÉireann and the Continuity IRA (CIRA) remained the “most significant threat to national security” in the North.
The report said that over the last two years these dissident republican groups had demonstrated the capability of carrying out a range of bomb attacks and shootings against security forces and other targets.
“Most DR [dissident republican] groups are heavily involved in criminal activities such as robberies, extortion, tobacco and fuel smuggling and paramilitary assaults within their own community,” it said.
It said the murder of 25-year-old Catholic PSNI officer Ronan Kerr in a car bomb in Omagh, Co Tyrone in Apr 2011, was the first fatal attack by dissident republicans since 2009.
It said there were also attacks on premises in public areas, including high-street banks in Derry, which it said “risked civilian casualties”.
The report said the CIRA was undergoing a period of “internal turmoil” and did not appear to have developed the same consistency in capabilities as the RIRA.
“The CIRA is currently undergoing organisational restructuring but the effective takeover of the CIRA by a potentially more radical internal element remains a cause for concern,” it said
“The RIRA’s continued success in terms of deployment of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) across a wide range of targets in Northern Ireland is also a cause for concern. It is evident that, in the past two years, RIRA has improved its engineering and technical capabilities,” the report said.
Elsewhere, the report said there were no Islamic terrorist attacks in 2011, despite the feared response to the assassination of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
It warned al-Qa-da-inspired terrorists “may seek to capitalise on major events such as the Olympics to maximise their impact”.
nThe war is over and there is no going back, Martin McGuinness, pictured, told international guests and participants in the North’s peace process yesterday.
The North’s deputy first leader and a former IRA commander said the Republican ceasefire in 1994 was the “most important event” in the peace process.
Delegates from 46 countries met in Dublin’s Kilmainham’s Hospital yesterday as part of Ireland’s hosting of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The focus was on the North with members from both sides of the conflict speaking to guests.
Mr McGuinness said the Good Friday Agreement had been a “triumph of political skill and negotiation”.
The Sinn Féin member explained that he had been asked in recent years to help peace negotiations in Iraq, the Middle East, Sri-Lanka, the Philippines and the Basque Country.
Speaking about the legacy of the North’s peace process, he added: “The war is over, the conflict is over. There’s no going back.”
First minister Peter Robinson said timing in any peace process and the desire of communities for it to work were important factors.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton spoke to members at the OSCE conference by video link and said the Good Friday Agreement had showed the world that peace was an “admirable goal”. She also advised the OSCE members that women could help advance peace talks.
— Juno McEnroe
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