They found a bomb that only weighs 500lbs? Proof that the IRA have been demonstrating some considerable restraint... :
Renewed Irish violence: Blair’s two big mistakes
The discovery of a 500lb van bomb outside Newry, South Armagh 10 days ago and the murder of Constable Ronan Kerr in Omagh, County Tyrone earlier this month show that unreconciled Republican splinter groups are growing bolder.
It is not unexpected. Jonathan Evans, head of MI5, has been warning publicly for over a year that Republican 'splinter groups' are becoming more ambitious, with some of the most extreme able to attract new young recruits with no criminal record or intelligence profile from 'The Troubles'.
But given that a united 32-county Ireland might only be a generation away, it seems an odd time for a renewed terrorist campaign by disaffected Republicans. Why is it happening?
In part we are dealing with Irish history. Whenever a group of Republican terrorists comes to some sort of arrangement with the British government, another group of hardliners breaks away and vows to continue the violent struggle. That's just the way it is.
But in part we are dealing with the consequences of yet another misjudgment by Tony Blair. He made two crucial mistakes in negotiating the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. The first was that he underestimated the sheer brutality of elements of the IRA leadership and its rank and file.
The IRA in South Armagh and Tyrone, particularly, were notorious for their arrogant and bullying ways. Torture and beatings were a first resort. Protection and extortion rackets made them rich. And their writ ran absolutely. Any young man who dared court a young woman who had caught the eye of an IRA boss risked knee-capping or worse. It was gang rule pure and simple, dressed up as Irish patriotism.
But Blair chose to ignore this fundamental truth, judging that a little selective amnesia was worth it. Maybe it was at the time.
Ex-terrorists certainly can come good. EOKA terrorists who bombed and murdered British troops on Cyprus in the 1950s and 60s evolved rapidly into civilised citizens after we withdrew into our sovereign bases. Some of the best tavernas in the Troodos mountains to this day are run by ex-EOKA men and their families - always with a warm welcome for British troops from the garrison or on their way back from Afghanistan.
Having operated in Northern Ireland since 1969, the security service did not fall for the IRA's new-found charm. Throughout the early years of the Good Friday Agreement, MI5 never took their eye off the ball. Despite the emerging challenge of Islamist terrorism back home, they ensured that talented people were still assigned to Belfast, including a number of counter-espionage experts to make sure that the new policing and security structures were not penetrated by IRA diehards.
Since 2007 they have been responsible for all intelligence matters in the Province operating from their state-of-the-art headquarters at Loughside in the Belfast suburb of Holywood.
Sadly, no amount of preparedness can make up for the legacy of Blair's second and less forgivable mistake. Of course concessions had to be made to bring the IRA on board. But it is hard to understand why Tony Blair did not revisit the Good Friday Agreement after 9/11.
Organisations like the New York Fire Department who marched enthusiastically in the same St Patrick's Day parade as the IRA's emissaries from the old country suddenly understood what terrorist bombs do to people.
Overnight, the financial and political support that some Americans had given the IRA for more than 100 years dried up. The IRA and its fellow travellers in Sinn Fein were on their uppers * at risk of being bundled up in world opinion with the Islamist crazies.
Far from additional concessions, Blair should have gazumped them, * forced the IRA to destroy its weapons and explosives and kept Republican prisoners in jail until he was satisfied that they had done so. The so-called 'splinter groups' like Oglaigh na hEireann which was behind this month's incidents would never have got off the ground.
Nevertheless, despite concerns about recent events, the security service remain confident in the long term that Northern Ireland will continue to be peaceful.
If you think their Loughside headquarters is 'too big for purpose' that's because it's not just for fighting Irish terrorism. The building houses MI5's national emergency back-up centre, including 'surge' personnel and computers.
It is an astonishing irony that Northern Ireland, despite its difficult history, is seen as relatively immune from the dangers of Jihadism. If anything really terrible were to happen in London or elsewhere on the mainland, our spooks consider Belfast the safest place to be.
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/77833,news-comment,news-politics,renewed-irish-violence-blairs-two-big-mistakes-ira-oglaigh-na-heireann#ixzz1JuwsUAU4
