ONE OF the most active of the dissident republican groups has denied it is in contact with the British or Irish governments.
“Óglaigh na hÉireann” stated it would talk to the British government only about a “withdrawal” from Northern Ireland, and that most of its members are former Provisional IRA members.
Óglaigh na hÉireann, viewed as one of the two factions of the Real IRA, discounted speculation that the British and Irish governments had opened a dialogue with it and other dissident groups.
A representative of its “army council” said there had been attempts to establish contact with dissident republicans. “There is no dialogue, and no we aren’t meeting with either the Irish or British governments. There have been indirect attempts at trying to instigate channels of communication,” the army council said in an interview with the Irish News.
When asked would the group consider speaking to the governments, the representative replied: “We would only be interested in taking part in talks if they were about negotiating withdrawal and ending British interference in Irish affairs, and if they took place within a tight framework. We intend to nick at the heels of the Brits to eventually force them into a situation where they open up negotiations on the issue of British interference in Irish affairs.”
The group acquired arms before this campaign, the representative added. “As the recent upsurge shows, we have the material required to carry out the type of campaign we have envisaged.”
There has been speculation on official moves to test whether dissidents could be inveigled into a purely political path. But the representative made clear the group has no interest in politics. “Óglaigh na hÉireann will not be going down the political party/army model because it has failed. One always compromises the other.”
