BATTLE AGAINST TIME TO CRUSH THE REAL IRA
NEWSFOCUS
Garda anti-terror detectives are in jubilant mood after a string of successes against the so-called Real IRA in the past year. But they were within minutes of achieving a knockout blow to the organisation when they narrowly missed arresting its leader last Wednesday night. Michael O'Toole reports
Battle against time to crush the Real IRA
A FEW minutes earlier or later and the Real IRA would have been no more.
As officers from the Garda's elite Emergency Response Unit lobbed stun grenades into an alleged dissident republican shooting range in Co Meath, they were unaware that their main target was only five minutes' drive away.
The officers, backed up by air support, Special Branch and local detectives, swarmed into the disused wine cellar in an isolated field near Stamullin on the Dublin border and delivered yet another hammer blow to renegade republicans last Wednesday night.
Although they recovered a machinegun, pistol and Kalashnikov assault rifle, the man who probably organised the smuggling of the weapons into Ireland was only a few miles away, enjoying a quiet pint.
Detectives believe the leader of the Real IRA, the man who gave the go-ahead for the bombing of Omagh, had either just left or was about to go to the firing range when the ERU struck.
If they had caught him red-handed, the terror group, feared to be re-organising and rearming, would have been crippled - its "war" would probably have been over.
The gardai have been stunningly successful in their efforts to foil attacks by the Real IRA.
Before the car bomb in Omagh which killed 29 people and maimed hundreds more last August, the Real IRA was attempting to dispatch huge bombs to England.
But the level of Garda intelligence has been of such a standard that at least eight bombs have been intercepted by officers since the Real IRA was formed in late 1997.
The Real IRA leadership was so alarmed by the Garda crackdown that it moved its operation - and targets - north of the border.
They believed they could operate more freely in the south Armagh area and also realised it would be less risky to bomb towns such as Banbridge than Manchester.
That decision culminated in the Omagh atrocity.
Since Omagh, the Garda have been unrelenting in their hunting down of the Real IRA.
Dozens of people have been arrested in swoops across the Republic as officers hunted the bombers and tried to smash the organisation at the same time.
They also foiled a Real IRA armed robbery in Ashford Co Wicklow in May 1998, in which Ronan MacLochlainn was killed.
They have recovered thousands of rounds of ammunition and dozens of different weapons.
But the real IRA hasn't gone away.
It has subsumed most of the Continuity IRA and several former members of the INLA have also joined and is intent on returning to violence.
But gardai appear to have been one step ahead of them, and in the last month they have arrested 26 suspects.
In February of this year, the Irish News revealed that the man whom gardai believe to be the leader of the Real IRA had fled to eastern Europe.
But they now believe the man, from Co Louth, was in eastern Europe for other reasons than a love of liberty.
It now appears that he went to eastern Europe with a deadly shopping list to support a new campaign of violence in Ireland and Britain by the Real IRA.
All the weapons and explosives seized by gardai in Co Meath in the past week, including two pounds of military explosives yesterday, came from behind the old iron curtain.
And the find has given gardai almost equal cause for celebration and concern.
They believe they have stymied an imminent attack by the dissidents.
But they are worried as to the amount of sophisticated weaponry to which the Real IRA has access.
Although attention focused on the 1990-built Russian RPG 18 rocket launcher found recently, senior gardai were also perturbed by the explosives which accompanied it.
At first, officers thought the substance was Semtex, the Czech-made explosives used by the Provisional IRA since the delivery of arms from Libya.
The Real IRA also used Semtex as a booster in the 5001b bomb which devastated Omagh in August 1998.
But Garda ballistics experts have examined this latest haul and have discovered it is a completely new type of explosive, like the RPG 18 never seen in Ireland before.
They are trying to establish its origin and strength - but there is no doubt it is plastic explosives used by armed forces in eastern Europe.
The real IRA leadership is said to be furious at the Garda's successes, especially this week's finds which have badly dented their capacity for violence.
One officer told the Irish News: "The Real IRA's noses have been put out of joint after this. They are furious.
"They are going round Dundalk making obscene gestures at officers. This has seriously damaged them.
"The leader was lucky to get away from the Stamullin raid. He was in a pub a few miles away and had either just left or was about to go there when it was raided."
But gardai are still worried that the Real IRA has salted away other amounts of the new explosive or new rocket launcher, ready to bomb targets in Britain or attack the RUC or British army north of the border.
Garda anti-terror detectives are in jubilant mood after a string of successes against the so-called Real IRA in the past year. But they were within minutes of achieving a knockout blow to the organisation when they narrowly missed arresting its leader last Wednesday night. Michael O'Toole reports
Battle against time to crush the Real IRA
A FEW minutes earlier or later and the Real IRA would have been no more.
As officers from the Garda's elite Emergency Response Unit lobbed stun grenades into an alleged dissident republican shooting range in Co Meath, they were unaware that their main target was only five minutes' drive away.
The officers, backed up by air support, Special Branch and local detectives, swarmed into the disused wine cellar in an isolated field near Stamullin on the Dublin border and delivered yet another hammer blow to renegade republicans last Wednesday night.
Although they recovered a machinegun, pistol and Kalashnikov assault rifle, the man who probably organised the smuggling of the weapons into Ireland was only a few miles away, enjoying a quiet pint.
Detectives believe the leader of the Real IRA, the man who gave the go-ahead for the bombing of Omagh, had either just left or was about to go to the firing range when the ERU struck.
If they had caught him red-handed, the terror group, feared to be re-organising and rearming, would have been crippled - its "war" would probably have been over.
The gardai have been stunningly successful in their efforts to foil attacks by the Real IRA.
Before the car bomb in Omagh which killed 29 people and maimed hundreds more last August, the Real IRA was attempting to dispatch huge bombs to England.
But the level of Garda intelligence has been of such a standard that at least eight bombs have been intercepted by officers since the Real IRA was formed in late 1997.
The Real IRA leadership was so alarmed by the Garda crackdown that it moved its operation - and targets - north of the border.
They believed they could operate more freely in the south Armagh area and also realised it would be less risky to bomb towns such as Banbridge than Manchester.
That decision culminated in the Omagh atrocity.
Since Omagh, the Garda have been unrelenting in their hunting down of the Real IRA.
Dozens of people have been arrested in swoops across the Republic as officers hunted the bombers and tried to smash the organisation at the same time.
They also foiled a Real IRA armed robbery in Ashford Co Wicklow in May 1998, in which Ronan MacLochlainn was killed.
They have recovered thousands of rounds of ammunition and dozens of different weapons.
But the real IRA hasn't gone away.
It has subsumed most of the Continuity IRA and several former members of the INLA have also joined and is intent on returning to violence.
But gardai appear to have been one step ahead of them, and in the last month they have arrested 26 suspects.
In February of this year, the Irish News revealed that the man whom gardai believe to be the leader of the Real IRA had fled to eastern Europe.
But they now believe the man, from Co Louth, was in eastern Europe for other reasons than a love of liberty.
It now appears that he went to eastern Europe with a deadly shopping list to support a new campaign of violence in Ireland and Britain by the Real IRA.
All the weapons and explosives seized by gardai in Co Meath in the past week, including two pounds of military explosives yesterday, came from behind the old iron curtain.
And the find has given gardai almost equal cause for celebration and concern.
They believe they have stymied an imminent attack by the dissidents.
But they are worried as to the amount of sophisticated weaponry to which the Real IRA has access.
Although attention focused on the 1990-built Russian RPG 18 rocket launcher found recently, senior gardai were also perturbed by the explosives which accompanied it.
At first, officers thought the substance was Semtex, the Czech-made explosives used by the Provisional IRA since the delivery of arms from Libya.
The Real IRA also used Semtex as a booster in the 5001b bomb which devastated Omagh in August 1998.
But Garda ballistics experts have examined this latest haul and have discovered it is a completely new type of explosive, like the RPG 18 never seen in Ireland before.
They are trying to establish its origin and strength - but there is no doubt it is plastic explosives used by armed forces in eastern Europe.
The real IRA leadership is said to be furious at the Garda's successes, especially this week's finds which have badly dented their capacity for violence.
One officer told the Irish News: "The Real IRA's noses have been put out of joint after this. They are furious.
"They are going round Dundalk making obscene gestures at officers. This has seriously damaged them.
"The leader was lucky to get away from the Stamullin raid. He was in a pub a few miles away and had either just left or was about to go there when it was raided."
But gardai are still worried that the Real IRA has salted away other amounts of the new explosive or new rocket launcher, ready to bomb targets in Britain or attack the RUC or British army north of the border.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0331
Published Date: 27-Oct-99
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