Stay away from bases, Real IRA warns

The Real IRA tonight pledged more violence even though an internal row left the organisation split.

The dissident republican terror group warned civilians to stay away from police and army bases in Northern Ireland.

A statement claimed anyone entering military installations would do so at “their own risk”.

It also insisted that a number of planned recent attacks had been aborted due to the presence of civilians nearby.

The statement came just two days after Real IRA prisoners inside Portlaoise jail called on the group’s leadership to stand down.

They insisted the army council’s financial motivations outweighed its political commitment to our struggle at this time.

However, the statement which claimed responsibility for a coffee-jar bomb attack on Castlederg Police Station in Co Tyrone confirmed the organisation was still active.

The dissidents were also blamed for a series of hoax bomb alerts in the centre of Belfast and at Belfast International Airport.

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan was one of 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, killed in the group’s attack on Omagh in August 1998, said he was not surprised at the threat of more violence.

He said: "It is a clear message that they are going to continue killing innocent people.

"The only people who have decided to pursue a peaceful path are those who are locked up in jail and are powerless to do anything about it."

"It looks as if it is business as usual for the Real IRA even though there is obviously an internal split," he added.

The statement was telephoned with a recognised codeword to the Derry Journal newspaper in Derry, where civilian workman David Caldwell was killed in a Real IRA bomb attack on a Territorial Army base in August.

It said: “We warn all civilians to stay away from military installations and Crown Force personnel.”

“A number of recent attacks have had to be aborted due to the presence of civilians in the vicinity.

“Anyone entering military installations does so at their own risk,” it concluded.