NORTHERN IRELAND’S policing board has called on people to challenge the mentality and the legacy which led to a dissident republican group issuing a renewed threat to PSNI officers at the weekend.

A Real IRA group in Derry yesterday threatened to continue killing members of the PSNI service.

On Friday, a group of former Provisional IRA members, thought to be associated with this Derry group, claimed responsibilty for the death of 25-year-old Constable Ronan Kerr in Omagh on 2 April.

Trevor Ringland of the Northern Ireland Policing Board told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland today that “this is the sort of mentality that needs to be challenged. It’s a throwback to the past and it’s a legacy of that past, and the rest of us challenge it by actually building the relationships that they are seeking to destroy.”

He said the northern policing board would reach out to “those parts of the community that maybe previously felt distanced from the police” as well as ensuring the service is representative of the community.

The PSNI would strive to deliver normal policing services despite the threat to their lives, Ringland said.

He called on people to provide the necessary information on dissidents which would see them brought to court: “We need to start realising that these are our young people that they’re trying to kill, and we don’t want to go there again as an island.”