Security sources, who believe the New IRA was indeed responsible, have told The Irish Times that about 200 dissident republicans on the island of Ireland are regarded as active security threats. However, they stressed that what one termed “softer participation” in dissident republicanism was engaged in by a higher number. The New IRA is strongest in Derry and is effectively a combination of several groups, including the Real IRA and Republican Action Against Drugs; the latter specialising in beating and kneecapping suspected drug dealers. As well as the incendiary devices sent to Britain last week, the New IRA was responsible for a car bomb in Derry in January. Another prison officer, Adrian Ismay, died after a New IRA bomb exploded under his car in 2016.

Source: The Irish Times March 13, 2019 00:22 UTC