Sod it, probably best suited to the Irish Politics thread...but imo, i think its relevant to this thread too. I had some pretty heavy "discussions" with people on here that i believed Brexit WOULD increases tensions over here and that a return to violence was possibly/probable/inevitable....but i got some good old stiff upper lip, blighty, theyll never defeat us bullshit thrown at me...so yeah, thankfully some have been arrested but there is definitely more to come....and as i tried to stress at the time, they will NOT stick to harrassing us over here....the "mainland" will be targetted
The four men and two women are charged as part of a police operation into the New IRA.
www.bbc.co.uk
New IRA investigation: Six terror suspects appear in court
Image copyrightPA MEDIA
Six people have appeared in court charged under the Terrorism Act.
They were arrested as part of a major PSNI and MI5 investigation into dissident republican group the New IRA.
All six have been accused of belonging to a proscribed organisation and of directing terrorism.
They are also charged with being at two meetings, one in Sixmilecross in February and another in Omagh in July, with the intent of committing acts of terrorism.
A senior police officer told the court those meetings were filmed and recorded by MI5, operating under the direction of the PSNI.
Appearing in court via videolink were:
- Sharon Jordan, 45, of Cappagh Road, Dungannon
- Kevin Barry Murphy, 50, of Altowen Park, Coalisland
- Amanda McCabe, 49, of Ailsbury Gardens, Lurgan
- Gary Hayden, 48, of Tyrconnell Street, Londonderry
- Joseph Patrick Barr, 32, of Cecilia's Walk, Londonderry
- Damien Joseph McLaughlin, 44, of Kilmascally Road, in Dungannon,
Mr McLaughlin is also charged with conspiracy to possess explosives including a quantity of Semtex and conspiracy to possess 100 rounds of ammunition.
Defence lawyers alleged there was entrapment and claimed in court that one man who has has not been charged was operating as an undercover agent for MI5.
All six were remanded in custody.
Operation Arbacia is targeting the New IRA, which is considered to be the largest dissident republican group and has been behind numerous attempted attacks on police officers.
Journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead by a New IRA gunman while observing a riot in Derry on 18 April 2019.
So far, 10 people have been arrested as part of the investigation.
On Saturday, two men,
one from Lurgan and the other from Derry, appeared in court.
On Monday afternoon, a 49-year-old man from the Dungannon area was charged with offences including membership of a proscribed organisation, directing terrorism and two separate charges of preparatory acts of terrorism.
He is due to appear in court on Tuesday.
A 10th person, who was
detained at Heathrow Airport on Saturday, is still being questioned.
'Longer-term investigation'
On Monday afternoon, the PSNI said Operation Arbacia will continue into the longer term.
Assistant Chief Constable Barbara Gray told a press conference that the operation "did not start last week, nor will it end this week".
She added: "It is a longer-term investigation which will look into every aspect of the activities of the New IRA in its entirety."