Northern Ireland Troubled again
Mar 9th 2009 BELFAST
Mar 9th 2009 BELFAST
From Economist.com
A fatal attack on British soldiers in Northern Ireland does not mean an end to powersharing
AFP
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NORTHERN IRELAND had begun to relax after 30 years of the “Troubles” gave way to relative calm. The last British soldier to be killed in the province, Lance-Bombardier Stephen Restorick, had been shot by an Irish Republican Army sniper in 1997. But murderous terrorism has not yet ended there. On Saturday March 7th two soldiers were killed and four men left seriously injured at the Massereene army base near Antrim. This is the first time in memory that “dissident” republicans, who hate the “Good Friday” power-sharing agreement of 1998, have managed to kill members of the security forces.
There had been recent warning signs of a pending violent assault. Wary of a new attempt to break up the peace process, an undercover military unit had just been deployed in Northern Ireland to improve intelligence on dissident republican groups. The latter are thought to have reorganised after several splits. Northern Ireland’s police chief, Sir Hugh Orde, gave warning last week that the threat from dissidents, opposed to the political process, was greater than at any time in his seven years in office. And over the past few years the tally has grown of near-miss attacks on policemen and of sizeable bombs discovered (and defused).
AFP
Get article background
NORTHERN IRELAND had begun to relax after 30 years of the “Troubles” gave way to relative calm. The last British soldier to be killed in the province, Lance-Bombardier Stephen Restorick, had been shot by an Irish Republican Army sniper in 1997. But murderous terrorism has not yet ended there. On Saturday March 7th two soldiers were killed and four men left seriously injured at the Massereene army base near Antrim. This is the first time in memory that “dissident” republicans, who hate the “Good Friday” power-sharing agreement of 1998, have managed to kill members of the security forces.
There had been recent warning signs of a pending violent assault. Wary of a new attempt to break up the peace process, an undercover military unit had just been deployed in Northern Ireland to improve intelligence on dissident republican groups. The latter are thought to have reorganised after several splits. Northern Ireland’s police chief, Sir Hugh Orde, gave warning last week that the threat from dissidents, opposed to the political process, was greater than at any time in his seven years in office. And over the past few years the tally has grown of near-miss attacks on policemen and of sizeable bombs discovered (and defused).
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