The Continuity IRA has claimed that it plans to embark on a campaign of violence, including attacks on RUC patrols. The organisation said what the RUC had described as a "crude hoax" dealt with by police during last Saturday's Apprentice Boys' Lundy parade in Derry was in fact part of a substantial bomb.
The Continuity IRA, which has not declared a ceasefire, claimed it aborted a bomb attack during Saturday's parade because of the danger to civilians. It said it dismantled the device because civilians could be injured.
A spokesman for the Continuity IRA told the Irish News that the organisation planted the bomb at Carlisle Road but subsequently "decommissioned" it. The spokesman also claimed that Continuity IRA members attempted to launch a gun attack on an RUC patrol in Derry on Saturday night, but that again they aborted the attack because of the threat to civilians. Police sources insisted last night that the device was in fact a "crude hoax". One source said that while police were not complacent about the possible threat from the Continuity IRA, the authenticity of the statement to the Irish News was undermined by the fact that its claim about the Derry device was false.
The Continuity IRA statement comes after the Garda stepped up Border security in anticipation of an increased threat from republican dissidents.
It also follows reports that the Continuity IRA may be attracting "Real IRA" members who are unhappy with the ceasefire the organisation called after the Omagh bombing. Continuity IRA sources confirmed that informal talks have taken place involving dissident republicans.
