• On the record Michelle O'Neill, Sinn Féin vice-president: "London has left Northern Ireland in limbo"

Police in Northern Ireland have warned against the risk of possible attacks by dissident republican groups ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Peace Agreement. The British government last week raised the terrorist alert to the highest level ("severe risk") in the countdown to the anniversary, on April 10, and before the visit of US President Joe Biden, who will arrive in Belfast on Tuesday and travel on Wednesday to Dublin.


The shooting of detective John Caldwell, who was seriously wounded in the eyes of his own son on February 22 in Omagh, has reignited concern about new outbreaks of violence in Ulster. Fifteen people have been arrested to date
for their alleged involvement in the attack, claimed by the New IRA, created in 2012 after the merger of several republican dissident groups that do not accept the Good Friday Agreement.


The political crisis has also contributed to aggravating the situation in recent weeks. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has refused to accept the Windsor Agreement, backed by the rest of the political forces to solve the frictions created by Brexit. The DUP was also the only major party not to sign the Good Friday Agreement.


The unionist force, which has gone from being the first to the second most voted after the victory of the republican party Sinn Fèin a year ago, has refused to be part of a "unity government", which has left the Stormont Assembly in limbo and created a situation of power vacuum.


DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has denied however that his party's decision has contributed to the new threat of violence in Ulster. "While the government was functioning, and for years, these groups have practiced violence and been killing police," Donaldson told BBC radio.


Local police say they have received reliable information from intelligence services regarding possible terrorist attacks over the next few days, as well as street violence in Derry, a stronghold of republican dissident groups.


"We are in exceptional circumstances," acknowledged Northern Ireland's chief commissioner Simon Byrne, who confirmed the mobilization of dozens of frontline officers, fearing outbreaks of violence. "We're going to have a long and especially hectic weekend," said Deputy Commissioner Bobby Singleton, who expressed concern about incidents of street violence in Derry such as those that caused the death of journalist Lyra McKee during Easter 2019.


  • Joe Biden
  • Terrorism
  • Brexit
  • United Kingdom
  • Ireland

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