Paramilitary splinter groups have no legitimacy

The people of Northern Ireland have, over the past decade, become accustomed to the type of peace they once could only ever dream of - a non-violent existence that has allowed them to live with their neighbours in relative harmony and with a relatively optimistic view of the future, the current economic crisis nothwithstanding. That goodwill, fostered and nurtured by the Good Friday Agreement and the positive workings of the Northern Ireland Executive at Stormont, has this week been seriously threatened by the murderous activities of a tiny bunch of renegades whose aim is to subvert the will of all the people of this island. The cowardly killing by the Real IRA of two British soldiers on Saturday night in Co Antrim as they collected a pizza delivery outside their barracks and the Continuity IRA murder of a PSNI constable in Craigavon on Monday night has harkened back to the dark days of The Troubles which everyone felt were at last behind us. The words of the Meath Peace Group, an organisation which has worked long and hard over many years to help bring about peace and build bridges in the North, are particularly apt this week and are worth repeating here. The group said the cowardly murders were 'an act of terror designed to provoke fear and mistrust, sow further division, intice retaliation and undermine the courageous efforts of those people and communities who have worked tirelessly to build understanding, trust and better relations in the aftermath of a violent and divisive conflict'. The simplistic ideology which drives these republican splinter groups runs contrary to the expressed wishes of the overwhelming majority of the Irish people of all religious and political persuasions. It is a mindset which has to be challenged at every level by heads of government to community leaders and ordinary people everywhere. But, above all, the killings at Massareene Barracks and Lismore Manor in Craigavon cannot be permitted to undermine the peace that has been so hard won in Northern Ireland. The dissident republicans" escalating campaign of violence, correctly predicted by the PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde just days ago, will be a major challenge to the North"s security forces (and the Gardai on this side of the border) but also to politicians as they attempt to hold together their often fragile power-sharing government at Stormont. However, the early signs are encouraging as both senior Sinn Fein and unionist figures have stood shoulder to shoulder to not only strongly condemn the actions of the gunmen but also, significantly, to pledge support for the police in their bid to apprehend those responsible for the attacks. The Real IRA and the Continuity IRA are small gangs of paramilitaries with no legitimacy or support who appear bent on trying to outdo each other in a grisly league of murders. While they command little public support on either side of the border for their campaign, they are nonetheless ruthless and determined and are thus a continuing danger. Intelligence assessments indicate they have no finance, few personnel and little equipment, but they are capable of occasional shootings and bombings and this is likely to be their strategy against what they regard as 'legitimate targets", which include innocent pizza delivery men or anyone else 'colluding" with British forces. The strong condemnation by all of these cowardly attacks has reinforced the belief that anti-agreement terrorists will not drive a wedge between those working to maintain peace and a normal society in Northern Ireland and will not succeed in derailing the peace process. It was a peace too hard won over a long period of time to allow wanton acts of senseless violence to deflect the North"s politicians from building a fair and just peace for all the people of the North. It is up to everyone involved now to hold their nerve and refuse to permit these shadowy groups to hijack the Northern Ireland agenda with the sole aim of returning the province to the nightmare it has endured for 30 years.