IRA SHOWDOWN MAY BE BLOODBATH
IRA showdown may be bloodbath
by Mary Dundon
THERE is a real danger of a bloodbath in a major showdown between the Provisional IRA and the dissident Real IRA over the Omagh bombing that has claimed 28 lives to date, a senior Garda source warned last night.
The Provisionals will feel compelled to take out the dissident Real IRA chief and his key men throughout the country because they still control their arms caches, he said.
And the Provisionals fear this Real IRA chief and his supporters will carry out further major bombings, similar to Omagh - unless they are stopped, according to the senior Garda source.
"The Omagh bombing has really put the gun to the head of the Provisional IRA and I can see a bloodbath occurring where they will now see no option but to take out key figures of the dissident Real IRA group, particularly around Dundalk." the Garda source added.
The 49-year old chief who leads the Real IRA is a Dundalk businessman and cannot be named for legal reasons. He was ousted from the Provisional IRA in Gweedore last November after he staged a failed coup of IRA members opposed to the faction led by Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.
The Real IRA membership is closer to 40 than the 100 figure quoted in the media at the weekend but numbers are not really that important because their members include expert bomb makers.
And they also include three former Provisional IRA leaders still at large in Munster, according to the senior Garda source.
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
by Mary Dundon
THERE is a real danger of a bloodbath in a major showdown between the Provisional IRA and the dissident Real IRA over the Omagh bombing that has claimed 28 lives to date, a senior Garda source warned last night.
The Provisionals will feel compelled to take out the dissident Real IRA chief and his key men throughout the country because they still control their arms caches, he said.
And the Provisionals fear this Real IRA chief and his supporters will carry out further major bombings, similar to Omagh - unless they are stopped, according to the senior Garda source.
"The Omagh bombing has really put the gun to the head of the Provisional IRA and I can see a bloodbath occurring where they will now see no option but to take out key figures of the dissident Real IRA group, particularly around Dundalk." the Garda source added.
The 49-year old chief who leads the Real IRA is a Dundalk businessman and cannot be named for legal reasons. He was ousted from the Provisional IRA in Gweedore last November after he staged a failed coup of IRA members opposed to the faction led by Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.
The Real IRA membership is closer to 40 than the 100 figure quoted in the media at the weekend but numbers are not really that important because their members include expert bomb makers.
And they also include three former Provisional IRA leaders still at large in Munster, according to the senior Garda source.
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
Further Information
Publisher: THE EXAMINER
Ref: TEX/041
Published Date: 18-Aug-98
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