Republican threats against civil servants condemned

Republican paramilitaries opposed to the peace process have issued a chilling threat to a group of civil servants, it was revealed today.

The Continuity IRA (CIRA) threatened to target customs officers and staff from the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) for dealing with police in Co Fermanagh - where last month the same group tried to kill two police officers.

The North's Environment Minister Sammy Wilson, responsible for the DVA which tests and licenses drivers and vehicles, condemned the threat and said it put the entire community at risk.

The threat was issued in a statement read by a masked man at the unveiling of a monument last Saturday near the Fermanagh border, at Mullan, Co Cavan.

Mr Wilson said: "I wish to condemn in the strongest possible terms the threat to DVA staff issued by the South Fermanagh Command of the Continuity IRA.

"DVA staff are actively involved in road safety and work with both the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) and Garda.

"Given our current road safety record and the high percentage of the goods and bus fleet operating with serious defects I would have thought that staff would have been actively supported rather than targeted.

"This threat is simply an attack on road safety, DVA staff who are ordinary people going about their work and it therefore puts the whole community at risk."

In June the CIRA claimed responsibility for planting a landmine near the Co Fermanagh village of Roslea in an attempt to murder PSNI members.

Two officers escaped with minor injuries when the device only partially exploded.

It is understood dissident republicans attended the unveiling of the memorial in Co Cavan in an event including a 14-strong group headed by seven masked men.

One of the masked men is understood to have read a statement claiming to represent the South Fermanagh Command of the Continuity IRA.

The statement reportedly read: " "It has come to our attention that in recent weeks Customs and Excise and the DVLA (the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) have been collaborating with the RUC in the County Fermanagh area.

"We order them to desist immediately or we will be forced to label them legitimate targets."