Nature of attack on PSNI officer shows New IRA 'desperate' to be relevant

Dissident group's use of criminal gang sign of their weakness, according to security sources.

Forensic officers at the scene near the sports complex in the Killyclogher Road area of Omagh, Co Tyrone, where off-duty PSNI Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell was shot a number of times by masked men. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

The New IRA’s involvement of a criminal gang in the attempted murder of PSNI officer John Caldwell, and the way the gun attack was carried out, shows how “weak and desperate” the dissident group is, security sources have said.

Four suspected members of the gang arrested for the terror attack are from a Protestant background, including one with an historic conviction for a loyalist paramilitary attack on a Catholic.

Some reports say this indicates a loyalist paramilitary link, while some experts believe the four arrested are simply criminals.

There are fears that the New IRA, and a smaller splinter group, Arm na Poblachta (ANP), based in Derry, may carry out further attacks in the run-up to the Easter commemorations.

Detective Chief Inspector Caldwell remains in a critical but stable condition.

Two gunmen fired 10 shots in the car park of a sports complex in Omagh, Co Tyrone, on February 22, hitting him four times in the torso.

The PSNI quickly linked the New IRA to the attack.

The first four people arrested were known dissidents, including, it is thought, at least two who had been arrested for the murder of PSNI officer Ronan Kerr, who died in a car bomb attack in Omagh in April 2011.

Attack 'very poorly planned'

“It was an open car park and the two gunmen approached him and shot 10 times, but only hit him four times, and he survived," said a source. 

For a terrorist attack, that shows they have no shooting training."

A second source agreed: “It seems to have been very poorly planned, to do it so publicly. They left themselves massively exposed in terms of evidence and identification — and their target survived.” 

Several sources said that the New IRA is a severely weakened organisation after Operation Arbacia in 2020, when 10 people, including very senior leaders in the New IRA, were charged in an MI5-PSNI operation.

“That cut off the head of the organisation,” said one source. 

There really is no overall New IRA leadership any more. This attack, and the previous one in Strabane, are desperate attempts to remain relevant.

“The New IRA are really short of guns, but criminals have access."

The Belfast Telegraph reported on Friday that the crime gang supplied the weapons for the New IRA to carry out the attack.

As well as a lack of weapons, sources said the fact that the New IRA — which is strongest in Derry — could not stop ANP from setting up in the city also underlines how weak they are.

No prior intelligence

It is not clear whether a New IRA group in East Tyrone drove the attack or if the Derry branch did.

Given the statement claiming responsibility was made in Derry — a claim that has not been contradicted — indicates they were at least informed of it, sources believe.

Sources suspect the number of people with knowledge of the attack was kept small, given that no prior intelligence came to the attention of the PSNI or MI5.

Gardaí have been conducting inquiries on the movements of known New IRA members.