After the IRA murdered five people in the 1984 Brighton bombing, the organisation expressed regret it did not kill the Prime Minister, Mrs Margaret Thatcher: "Today we were unlucky . . . but remember, we only have to be lucky once, you have to be lucky always."
Now the "Real IRA" seems intent on maintaining its attacks so that, on the balance of probabilities, it could eventually "get lucky".
The RUC Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, yesterday blamed the "Real IRA" for the "barrack buster" mortar bomb attack on the Ebrington British army barracks in Derry shortly after midnight yesterday. He said the Provisional IRA was not linked to these dissident attacks, although some individual IRA members could be assisting dissident organisations without the imprimatur of the IRA.
The Ebrington bomb failed to explode but, said the Chief Constable, there was no doubt that the intention was to cause multiple fatalities. He told The Irish Times that in the past 10 days the "Real IRA" was responsible for three other attacks.
On Sunday week two of his officers were fortunate to escape with their lives when a bomb exploded under their car in Cookstown, Co Tyrone.
On Sunday, the British army defused a 100 lb booby-trap bomb at the RUC station in Claudy, Co Derry. The Chief Constable said the "Real IRA" had issued a false warning that there was a bomb at the front of the station in an attempt to lure RUC officers into leaving by the rear, where they would have triggered the device.
He then said several soldiers and/or police officers, and possibly civilians, could have been killed by a 1,000 lb landmine in Co Armagh last week had it not been discovered and defused.
Before Christmas two men were arrested following a bomb discovery in Belfast, the day after President Clinton left the city. The Continuity IRA is believed to have been responsible for that incident.
The "Real IRA" was also blamed for another planned "barrack buster" bomb attack in Co Fermanagh in November. The RUC intercepted a van containing the bomb and arrested four men in Derrylin, Co Fermanagh.
Part of the Real IRA's motivation was to disrupt the peace and political processes, said the Chief Constable. "But its basic philosophy, if you could call it that, is simply Brits Out," he said.
The number of foiled attacks is understood to be down to the fact that the "Real IRA" and Continuity IRA are heavily infiltrated by British military intelligence and RUC and Garda agents, not to mention IRA members.
Security sources said that the "Real IRA" was attempting to streamline its operations to prevent, or circumvent, this penetration.
Primarily, it was tightening up its recruitment procedures by focusing on new members who have no known "previous form".