Adams: Splinter group are not IRA

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has said that the group who today claimed responsibility for the murder of PSNI Constable Ronan Kerr are not the IRA.

According to a statement published in today's Belfast Telegraph, a group calling themselves the IRA have claimed responsibility for the killing of the 25-year-old on April 2.

In the statement the group claim to be former members of the IRA, but said they do not regard themselves as dissidents.

Reacting to the news this evening, Mr Adams condemned the attack and called on this group to just "go away".

"What is for certain is that they should go away," he said.

"What is for certain is that they are not the IRA - the IRA is now a matter of history.

"And what is for certain, especially as we approach the anniversary of the Easter Rising, is that they have no part to play whatsoever in the effort to bring about the Republic.

"What they should do is go and get the 1916 proclamation, read it, and then go away."

Last night police investigating the murder of Constable Kerr charged a man with terrorism offences. He will appear at Dungannon Magistrates’ Court, Tyrone, tomorrow.

The man, 33, is accused of possession of firearms and explosives with the intent to endanger life and possession of articles likely to be of use in terrorism.

Meanwhile the PSNI said it has made significant arrests in South Armagh in relation to dissident republican activity.

Police have given no details of the arrests.

In a statement issued earlier they however warned the public to be extra vigilant over the Easter holiday period, due to the severe threat level posed by dissidents in the North.

The PSNI says terrorist groups are intent on trying to murder officers in the coming days and weeks.