YOUR VIEWS: Is the Army required to curb the dissident threat?
A CALL has been made for Army personnel to assist a diminished police force in curbing the growing dissident threat in border areas.
Ulster Unionist MLA Tom Elliott spoke out after police were targeted in a gun attack in the village of Garrison, Co Fermanagh.
One shot was fired at police just after 6pm on Saturday evening as they were reported to have "foiled a planned terrorist attack". Officers responded with two warning shots.
YOUR VIEWS: Is the Army required to curb the dissident threat?
There is local speculation that the target for dissidents may have been a newly recruited PSNI officer, who lives in the locality. However, when contacted by the News Letter, a PSNI spokeswoman refused to comment on the details of any covert operation.
Five people have been arrested in a cross-border police probe in the aftermath of the shooting, which occurred near a graveyard on the Belleek Road on the outskirts of the village.
Four men, aged 32, 26, 41 and 22, were detained by the PSNI and were last night being questioned at the serious crime suite in Antrim. Meanwhile, another 27-year-old male was arrested by Gardai in the Republic, in the Rossinver area of Co Leitrim and is still in Gardai custody.
As is normal procedure, the Police Ombudsman has been informed of the discharge of shots by police.
Mr Elliott, who condemned the incident as "despicable", praised the actions of the officers on the ground.
However, he claimed the terrorist act vindicated unionist concerns that PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott's plans to press ahead with the phasing out of the full-time reserve was a "very bad" decision.
The UUP man called for a "limited" Army presence back in the Province.
"That does not say we need the Army out patrolling the streets and operating checkpoints but there is certainly a need for them in a limited purpose role," he said.
"A number of roads are closed in Fermanagh on a regular basis due to ongoing security threats and this often means police are tied up for weeks on end whereas if there was Army personnel to do that, then that could free up officers to get on with their own work.
"The sooner the security services recognise this fact the better."
Echoing those security concerns, DUP MLA Arlene Foster argued the "criminal conspiracy" of dissidents was "getting bigger and more effective".
"This latest incident demonstrates the need for a highly visible police presence throughout border areas," she added.
"The dissident criminals need to know there is no place they won't be confronted by the legitimate forces of law and order."
SDLP councillor Gerry Gallagher, who lives in Garrison, said local people were "shocked" at the nature of the attack.
"There is a feeling of revulsion over this incident and it would be totally condemned by everybody in the area," he said.
Party colleague and MLA for the area, Tommy Gallagher, expressed his relief that there were no fatalities.
"The people of Fermanagh respect law and order and recognise the authority of the police. No one in Fermanagh recognises the authority of these people who take a gun in their hand and use it against another individual, not caring one jot for those who may get in the way,” he said.
Commenting on the shooting, Sinn Fein MP Michelle Gildernew said: “These actions will not advance either republican or democratic objectives and I condemn them; they simply highlight further the need for political leadership in moving the process forward.”
Earlier this month the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) reported that the dissident republican threat was at its highest level for almost six years.
The IMC said the two main dissident republican groups, the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA, were working more closely together to increase the threat posed to security forces.
On March 7, the Real IRA killed sappers Mark Quinsey, 23, and Patrick Azimkar, 21, at Massereene Army base in Antrim.
Two days later the Continuity IRA shot PSNI Constable Stephen Paul Carroll in Craigavon.
In the period covered by the report, March 1 until August 31, there have been 11 attempts to kill other PSNI officers in Northern Ireland.
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Monday 13 February 2012
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