Police fear dissident Republican backlash

Undercover security operations in Northern Ireland have been intensified amid fears of a bombing backlash by former associates of jailed Real IRA boss Michael McKevitt, it emerged tonight.

Police on both sides of the border claimed the terrorist threat by dissident republicans was as high as at any time since the Omagh atrocity five years ago.

The warnings have been linked to two huge bomb finds just before the start of McKevitt’s trial and his sentencing today at Dublin’s Special Criminal Court.

A security source said tonight: “The threat level is significant and extremely worrying and everybody – and I mean everybody – is on full alert.”

Even though McKevitt is believed to be out of favour with many of the men on the outside, security chiefs have stepped up surveillance, particularly in the border areas.

Most key members of the Real IRA have been identified and are under constant watch, sources said.

A majority of them are in their early twenties with no previous connections to the Provisional IRA, but like McKevitt, are violently opposed to the peace process.

Covert operations headed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Headquarters Mobile Support Units (HMSU) have been mounted in all areas of Northern Ireland.

The force’s C3 department (Special Branch) and Tactical Support Groups are also heavily involved.

Two specific failed terrorist attacks have been linked to the new threat.

One was the discovery of half a tonne of explosives in an outhouse at Hackballscross, Co Louth, on June 13 and two days later in Derry when officers intercepted a 600lb van bomb abandoned on the Foyle Bridge.

This was just before the opening of McKevitt’s trial and police on both sides of the Irish border believe dissident republicans had been planning major attacks in different parts of Northern Ireland that weekend.

The seizure of the Hackballscross explosives involved a cross-border undercover operation, but it is understood the discovery of the bomb in Derry was not linked to any intelligence tip-off.

A source said tonight: “The coming days, maybe weeks, are going to be fairly tense for us. We know they’ve lost some important people recently, but nobody underestimates their ability to let us know others are still around.

“It is a pretty worrying time for our people.”

Relatives of the Omagh dead said tonight they would be appalled if there was more death and destruction in the aftermath of McKevitt’s jailing.

Victor Barker, whose son James was among the 29 killed on August 15, 1998, said: “It would be horrendous if they carried on with such a disregard for human life. One thing these people must realise is the awfulness of their actions.

“No piece of Irish soil or the dream of Irish sovereignty is worth the loss of one human life.”