Bombing raises fears of escalation in dissident violence

Fears of an escalation in dissident republican terrorist attacks heightened tonight after a car bomb wrecked buildings near the centre of Derry.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen condemned the bombing, claiming it served no purpose other than the destruction of property.

“Thankfully there’s been no lives lost,” the Taoiseach told the Dáil.

“I think it’s an appalling incident which serves no political purpose, will have no effect.

“The co-operation of the gardai and the PSNI on these issues which is very, very good, unprecedentedly close in every way, that they will continue to work together to see in what way we can identify the perpetrators and make sure they’re brought to justice.”

Even though police said nearly 60 people have already been charged this year for dissident activity, security chiefs are becoming increasingly concerned by the developing threat from hardliners trying to derail the peace process.

Two police officers were injured in the latest attack, carried out by the Real IRA, which was responsible for the Omagh bombing in 1998 which killed 29 people.

The Derry bomb – believed to have contained more than 200lb of explosives packed into a Vauxhall Corsa – exploded just after midnight, damaging a branch of the Ulster Bank and shops in front of Da Vinci’s hotel in Culmore Road.

Police believe the device may have been abandoned after the presence of officers in the area prevented the bombers reaching a different, unknown target.

The blast comes at a time of rising optimism in Derry after it was named UK Capital of Culture for 2013.

But the negative impact of the blast tonight saw Italian football officials request security information ahead of their Euro 2012 qualifier against Northern Ireland on Friday, though football authorities in Belfast said they expect the Italians to arrive in the city for the game as planned.

Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, in Birmingham for the Conservative Party conference, said he was disgusted by the attack in his native city.

Mr McGuinness, once an IRA commander in the city, said: “These conflict junkies are attempting to drive a city living very much to the future back to the past.

“People in this city are horrified that there are still these Neanderthals within our society.”

There had been a warning around an hour before the blast and several people, including hotel guests, residents in a nursing home and people living nearby, were evacuated.

There were claims that the attack was timed to coincide with Mr McGuinness attending the Tory conference where he spoke at a fringe meeting.

Staff at the Ulster Bank were threatened some time ago by the Real IRA.

Two months ago a 200lb car bomb exploded outside a police station half a mile away in Strand Road. Dissident republicans were also blamed for that explosion.

In February the Real IRA shot dead Kieran Doherty in Derry. He was stripped and bound and his body dumped on a road close to the border. There was widespread condemnation after the group claimed the dead man was one of its members but was killed for involvement in drugs.

Earlier Mr Doherty claimed to have been approached by MI5.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) tonight released fresh figures on its efforts to combat dissident activity. It said there had been 37 dissident republican incidents so far this year, with 169 arrests and 59 people charged, compared with 17 people charged during all of 2009.

Secretary of State Owen Paterson and Fforeign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin condemned the attack and said political progress would not be derailed.

First Minister Peter Robinson issued a joint statement with Mr McGuinness which said: “It is clear that the people who carried out this attack have no regard for life or property. Their sole aim is to disrupt our peaceful society and to create a culture of fear.”

Justice Minister David Ford said the bomb was an attack on the people of Derry but also on the wider political process.

He added: “Those who planted this bomb have been rejected by the people of Ireland, both North and South, and they will not be allowed to succeed in their attempts to drag Northern Ireland back to the past.”