Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I am pleased to welcome the significant progress in the devolution of functions to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Real change is never quick or easy but recent events show that tenacity can deliver real results.

Deputy Kenny outlined the Fine Gael view on the positive developments in Northern politics but I would like to take the opportunity to refer to the threat posed by dissidents on both sides of the Border, a threat that historically has grown out of the political situation in the North. I welcome the announcement yesterday by the INLA, the Official IRA and the loyalist south east Antrim brigade that their illegal weapons have been destroyed as part of the decommissioning process. These groups have recognised that political dialogue achieves far more than violence ever could.

Regrettably, however, there remains a rump of irredentist dissidents who refuse to acknowledge the will of the people and the authority of the State. It is clear from recent developments that the threat from dissident republicans on this island has now reached a very dangerous level. Just last month, as has been referred to, a PSNI officer was critically injured when a bomb exploded under his car. Experts have been warning for the past few months that there has been a realignment of terrorist groups in Northern Ireland with a new group emerging from the hard-liners among the Continuity IRA and the Real IRA.

In the past two years, there have been more than 750 bomb alerts in the North, an average of one per day. Although no one has been killed by the Continuity IRA or the Real IRA since the vicious murders of two soldiers and a policeman last March, terrorist actions still average one per day. The most recent report of the Independent Monitoring Commission suggested that the threat level is "really serious" and at its highest in six years.

Even among groups which have theoretically abandoned the path of violence, there are worrying signs that the legacy of violence has not been completely left behind. We sadly recall the brutal murder of Paul Quinn, for which nobody has yet been convicted, despite a widely held belief that the Provisional IRA was responsible for the death.

At the weekend, Assembly member, Dominic Bradley, told the SDLP conference that there still is "a functioning murder machine" run by republicans in south Armagh. Mr. Bradley further warned that although the Provisional IRA's army council has prohibited punishment beatings, south Armagh IRA members simply do as they please. He stated that even if the Provisional IRA has theoretically been stood down, individual members still have access to its structures, its skills and its experience and the group as a whole is still trying to exercise community control and worst of all, it can still draw on political support from Sinn Féin in exercising that control. This is, indeed, a stark and chilling warning.

In the Republic, there are ongoing warnings that the dissidents are still involved in vigilante-type activity. Leaflets being circulated in Cork city attribute the recent murder of Gerard Stanton, a convicted drug dealer, to the 32 County Sovereignty Movement. The leaflet also claims that the Real IRA has a list of alleged drug dealers who it has marked out for execution. I understand the Garda is currently investigating these claims and I wish it well.

I urge the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern, to take decisive steps to address the threat posed by dissidents to life and limb in this Republic. There is a clear need for increased Border security and to ensure intelligence resources are made available to counteract the increasing terrorist threat. Senior Garda posts, to which we referred last week in a justice debate, must be filled urgently. We require both a political and a security response from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Government.

Last month's bomb in the North shows that the situation continues to deteriorate. We need to do all we can in this Republic to protect lives from the threat posed by the remaining the dissident republicans in the form of their terrorist activities.

See this speech in context