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Gardaí during a dig for weapons in Omeath last month, Garda Press

Dozens of dissident weapons caches 'dotted along border region'

Gardaí fear an upsurge in violence in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

GARDAÍ POLICING THE border region suspect that dissident republicans have “dozens” of makeshift weapons caches dotted along the border. 

The news comes after a significant quantity of munitions were found in Omeath, on the Cooley Peninsula, earlier this month.

In that find, a substantial quantity of ammunition was discovered along with a mortar tube.

Gardaí received intelligence in the weeks before the search that significant munitions had been placed along the peninsula.

The operation was led by members of the Garda Special Detective and Emergency Response Units. No arrests have been made at this time.

That find is linked to the so-called New IRA – a splinter group which gardaí and the PSNI believe is in the process of unearthing weapons stored in remote areas along the border.

As we move closer to the possibility of a no deal Brexit, gardaí believe certain elements of the dissident community are unearthing caches of weapons which have been buried in a number of locations across the region for a number of years.

Dozens of areas are suspected of being utilised in this way but police on both sides of the border need concrete evidence before a dig for munitions is launched. 

Gardaí are also in the process of drawing up a list of suspected dissidents who could become active in the wake of a hard border. The suspects’ names, addresses, places they frequent and their associates are being compiled in the event of further dissident related incidents. Gardaí are also continuing surveillance operations on more than 100 people they believe are involved in directing dissident activity across Ireland.

There are a number of people who have admitted they are worried that any sign of a hard border will see a return of violence to the region.

Former Chief Constable of the PSNI, Hugh Orde, warned about the risks of a border leading to a resumption violence in the area.

Brexit risk

Orde said recreating a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic would have “huge consequences in terms of security” and police and customs officers “would become a target”.

“There is no way that I can see to have a soft border unless you have equality in terms of customs and freedom of movement,” he said. 

Orde added that it would not be possible to put cameras or technology on the border without police, or some other form of security to protect them.

James Morrisroe, who represents gardaí in the Cavan/Monaghan division for the Garda Representative Association, compared the possibility of a hard border post-Brexit to the foot and mouth and BSE crises.

“At the time of the foot and mouth crisis, they would have had a large number of gardaí on temporary transfer from all over the country to cover all the border crossings, of which there are a lot, on minor roads and major roads in the Cavan/Monaghan division,” he said.

There would probably be the most border crossings in the country in the Cavan/Monaghan division. It’s a huge resource issue, you wouldn’t have the resources locally if you had to man all the roads if it was a hard border.”

He said with the number of gardaí in the country at the moment, the temporary transfer model would not work long-term and would be costly for the State.

“You would have to increase the number of gardaí in Cavan/Monaghan – I’d say you’d have to double them at least on a permanent basis, so that has its own implications.”

British soldiers on the streets

Increasing numbers of specialist troops have been deployed to the North in recent years in response to a resurgent dissident threat under a new strategy known as Operation Helvetic. 

Tom Clonan, a security analyst, explained to TheJournal.ie last week that these troops include highly trained explosive ordnance disposal officers and the Special Reconnaissance Squadron of the SAS, which acts in support of MI5 and the PSNI in countering the threat posed by dissident republicans, in particular the New IRA. 

Said Clonan: “All of the political discussion has been about law-abiding people, people exporting and importing. But Brexit would create a huge opportunity for non-law abiding people, for criminal elements. Because if we become a European Union frontier then there will be opportunities there for the movement of illegal goods, contraband goods, illegal substances, drugs, people… It will open up all sorts of stuff and the organised criminal elements on this island are very organised and they are very well armed.

“Groups like that have very, very close links to both dissident armed loyalists and republicans – those links are already there and they’re well documented. So the criminal element will use nationalist and loyalist rhetoric to ramp up the tension.”

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    Mute Roverandout
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 12:09 AM

    Scaremongering!!

    165
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    Mute Irish Genius
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 1:19 AM

    @Roverandout: Its time Leo’s spin unit was decommissioned.

    105
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    Mute Chin Feeyin
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 4:25 AM

    @Roverandout: absolutely not.

    This is well known. Both sides are ready to take up arms at a moment’s notice.

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    Mute seanmccann
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 9:00 AM

    @Roverandout: so you don’t think that those criminal organizations are going to pass up the opportunities for smuggling and petty banditry once presented. The provos or whatever they call them selves this week will rail against the border posts all the while making profits from smuggling and trafficking. Every time the economy in NI takes a hit sectarian activity increases.

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    Mute Kenny Wolf
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 12:55 AM

    #buildthatwall #Make-Monaghan-great-again.

    51
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    Mute Windom Earle
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 1:06 AM

    People are slowly realizing that the amount of weaponry decommissioned by the PIRA was in fact fairly small. A lot of the weaponry has filtered into the new IRA and criminal organizations. They have both the capacity and willingness for severe violence but what they lack is the membership. The EU is playing with fire and we are absolutely powerless yet again to dictate what happens on our own island. How the men who stood under the famous banner ‘We serve neither King nor Kaiser but Ireland’ must be turning in their graves. We’ve the sellouts SF in the North enforcing the King’s rule and the traitors in the Dáil serving the Kaiser Merkel.

    54
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    Mute Pixie McMullen
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 1:22 AM

    @Windom Earle: You would really want to check out the size of the caches verifiably destroyed by international observers before laying that thick coat of BS on the ground like a lush carpet.
    PS – Exactly HOW are SF enforcing Kings rule up north?
    Unless Elizabeth grew a bollix i don`t know about

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    Mute Tomas
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 1:48 AM

    Fake political agenda news

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    Mute Stevie Doran
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 12:41 AM

    Tip of the iceberg, there’s 60 years of caches, enough to defeat the US Army

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    Mute @mdmak33
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 12:25 AM

    This is nonsense, all that stuff is going on today,illegal goods,drugs etc,how would a hard border attract more of this illegal stuff,a hard border would make it harder to operate these illegal businesses, do these people think the public are stupid. By the way,I dont want a hard border, just pointing the stupidity of experts.

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    Mute John kane
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 12:37 AM

    @@mdmak33: Do you n

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    Mute John kane
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 12:41 AM

    @@mdmak33: do you not think the re-introduction of a hard border (reinforcing partition of the island again) will not irate republicans to the point the border will become a target?? Or what are you eating for breakfast?

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    Mute Paul O Mahoney
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 2:21 AM

    @@mdmak33: Do you have the capacity to actually write something coherent, you drivel around this place pretending to be knowledgeable, other stories you quickly asked questions and quickly got answers, of course you being the knacker you are, never thanked those who actually gave you the answers.

    Like most following the entitlement agenda that you push ignorantly and have no manners nor intelligence of a kind in this country needs I suggest you give up being anything
    You simply are a simple……..you fill the rest in..

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    Mute Tomas
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 1:50 AM

    The Derry car bomb last long in the main news….

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    Mute Terry Cahill
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 8:42 AM

    I’m assuming that “we” will not be doing anything to help with the policing of a hard border ? It will not be our doing so let those responsible for it deal with it and , it goes without saying, the consequences of their actions. It will not be pretty.

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    Mute The Great Unwashed
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 8:52 AM

    @Terry Cahill:
    That would be the EU then. The Brits have already said they won’t be implementing it – the only people insisting on it are Brussels.

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    Mute Anthony Avenell
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 9:28 AM

    @Terry Cahill: Grow up. It’s a choice to resort to violence, choose peaceful negotiation instead. Violence and killing is for mindless morons.

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    Mute Terry Cahill
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 12:50 PM

    @Anthony Avenell: will you tell that to the grown ups in the British Parliament . Grown ups usually have a sense of responsibility. Wrong target, you are aiming at the Messenger , not the bad news guys.

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    Mute Anthony Avenell
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 7:43 AM

    Bloody children the lot of them. For “dissident” read “Murdering”. The Irish Nation needs to grow some balls and stop the bloody squabbling. I

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    Mute Anthony Avenell
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 7:43 AM

    Bloody children the lot of them. For “dissident” read “Murdering”. The Irish Nation needs to grow some balls and stop the bloody squabbling.

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    Mute Adam Kelly
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 10:25 AM

    @Anthony Avenell: Hmmm. Here’s a solution. How about Britain hand the keys to Stormont over to the people of Ireland and peacefully vacate the North.
    Problem solved.

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    Mute Liam O’Conchubhair
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    Feb 25th 2019, 9:48 AM

    @Adam Kelly: you honestly think it’s that simple?

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    Mute Michael Maher
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    Feb 23rd 2019, 5:29 PM

    Weapons of mass destruction may be hidden in caves somewhere

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