There is no evidence to suggest that violent dissident groups in Northern Ireland are receiving money from US sources according to the Unites States ambassador to Britain.

Ambassador Louis Susman make his remarks after increased pressure from groups who are opposed to the Irish Republican Army's backing for a Catholic-Protestant government in Northern Ireland.

A recent spate of dissident attacks have led to questions regarding funding of the terrorist group. In the past some Irish-Americans have been accused of providing financial support to the IRA.

"We have absolutely no evidence that there is any funding coming from America to these small dissident IRA groups," Susman said.

For a period of over 20 years, up until the late 1990's, US based groups contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to IRA related causes. However the majority of these financial contributions were withdrawn after the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Following on from this the IRA formally announced their ceasefire in 2005.

Under the Good Friday Agreement the Northern Ireland Assembly was established. Based on the principal of power sharing it brought together members of opposing Unionist and Nationalist parties.

British authorities are attempting to establish where the dissident groups are currently getting their financial support from. Recent attacks have been minor and relatively low budget including a string of car bombs this year in Northern Ireland, most recently on October 5th in Derry city.

The latest attacks have resulted in Britain raising the terrorist threat level posed by IRA dissident groups from “moderate” to “substantial”.