Northern Ireland (merged thread)

[davidbfpo]

In recent months many gained the impression that the UK and Northern Ireland political leaders were "leaning over backwards" to Republican calls for the re-investigation of security force involvement in murders plus. Now a group of ex-soldiers are demanding crimes where the PIRA and others tried to kill them:http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ne...-34418970.html

[davidbfpo]

I've never seen this PSNI publication, although it appears they have been on their website:http://www.psni.police.uk/security_s...nuary_2016.pdf

[davidbfpo]

For those close to the rumbling along violence this headline will not be a surprise; based on academic research:

Almost 80% of people shot by the New IRA and other republican terror groups in Northern Ireland over nearly 10 years have been Catholics and nationalists.
The survey results, in an analysis of fatal shootings and woundings for the journal Terrorism and Political Violence, record that in the categories “Catholics” and “criminals” the victims comprised more than 77% of the 175 people shot dead or wounded by armed dissident republicans....By contrast, police officers accounted for just over 15% of shooting casualties from 2007 to 2015...

Link:http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...groups-new-ira

[davidbfpo]

The government decision to change the security readiness level, on the UK mainland, from ‘moderate’ to ‘substantial’ came as a surprise to many, even though some have been warning the 1916 Centenary could be marked by an attack to advance the 'dissident' Republican cause.

RUSI has a very useful commentary:https://rusi.org/commentary/new-ira-may-2016

Within is this curious passage:

Ironically, one of the gravest threats to the New IRA comes, not from the British or Irish security forces, but from Dublin-based criminal networks which have recently assassinated a number of New IRA members.

[davidbfpo]

A rare public statement on the Anglo-Irish border and it's electron guardians:

A MULTIBILLION-pound electronic surveillance system operating on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic would not change if Britain exited the EU, Ian Paisley Jr has claimed.....Every single vehicular movement on the border, every single person movement on the border, is electronically recorded.

Link:http://www.thesun.ie/irishsol/homepa...-a-Brexit.html

Presumably individuals must smile as they do, so their face is recorded and have their mobile phone on too.