Pipe bombs found in Northern Ireland cemetery 'viable' and attributable to New IRA, police say
Police said the pipe bombs were discovered in City Cemetery in Creggan following a republican parade on Easter Monday. They have described it as a sinister and worrying development.
Wednesday 12 April 2023 22:11, UK
Four pipe bombs found in a cemetery in Northern Ireland were "viable", according to police, who are investigating possible links to the New IRA.
Officers sealed off the City Cemetery in Creggan, Londonderry, on Tuesday, following the discovery of the devices.
Police said the pipe bombs were discovered following a republican parade on Easter Monday.
They were found in an area where clothes worn by participants were removed under the cover of umbrellas and burnt, according to police.
Chief Superintendent Nigel Goddard said: "Our colleagues from Terrorism Investigation Unit are continuing with their inquiries into this.
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"At this time, the main line of inquiry is these pipe bombs are attributable to the New IRA."
The devices were discovered just hours ahead of US President Joe Biden's visit to Northern Ireland.
On Tuesday, Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said the discovery of the devices was a "sinister and worrying" development.
What is the New IRA?
The full name for the New IRA is the New Irish Republican Army - although its members describe it as simply the Irish Republican Army.
The organisation was dubbed the New IRA by the press after the Real IRA merged with Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) and other small militant groups in 2012.
In a statement at the time of the group's formation signed off by the "IRA Army Council", they claimed Irish people had been "sold a phoney peace, rubber-stamped by a token legislature in Stormont".
"The IRA's mandate for armed struggle derives from Britain's denial of the fundamental right of the Irish people to national self-determination and sovereignty," it said.
"So long as Britain persists in its denial of national and democratic rights in Ireland the IRA will have to continue to assert those rights."
The New IRA is distinct from the Provisional IRA, the Republican paramilitaries who fought in The Troubles.
The Provisional IRA declared a ceasefire in 1997 and formally ended its armed campaign in July 2005, although security assessments in 2015 and 2020 revealed it still existed.
The New IRA admitted responsibility for the murder of journalist Lyra McKee, 29, who was shot in the head as she covered rioting on the Creggan estate in Derry in 2019.
Several men are currently awaiting trial charged with the murder.
"The actions of those responsible are reprehensible and show a complete disregard and utter contempt for the community," he said.
"These suspected pipe bombs were left in a cemetery, a place where people lay loved ones to rest and visit to pay their respects. That is absolutely shameful."
Police vehicle attacked on Easter Monday
It comes after officers condemned a petrol bomb attack on officers in Derry during an Easter Monday parade as "senseless and reckless".
The incendiary devices were thrown at an armoured police Land Rover in Creggan while officers attended what they described as an "unnotified" march by dissident republicans.
The vehicle, which was being used in the monitoring of the parade at the time of the Londonderry attack, was withdrawn from the scene and no one was reported injured.
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The incident was condemned by political leaders in Northern Ireland, including Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O'Neill, who described the violent scenes as "deplorable".
The incident happened on Easter Monday, which this year coincided with the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement - a peace deal that largely ended three decades of sectarian bloodshed in Northern Ireland.
It is also the day dissident republicans traditionally mark the anniversary of the Easter Rising rebellion against British rule in 1916.
Terror threat level raised in Northern Ireland
Police had warned they had "strong" intelligence terror attacks were being planned against their officers on Easter Monday.
MI5 recently raised the terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely.
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This followed the shooting of senior detective John Caldwell in Co Tyrone, who has been left with life-changing injuries.
Police have blamed the New IRA for the attack.