The IRA have threatened to kill more police officers and said that the Queen's upcoming visit to Ireland is an insult. The IRA believes that Queen Elizabeth II is guilty of war crimes.
Tanaiste (Vice Prime Minister) Eamon Gilmore said he was absolutely disgusted by the IRA's comments with relation to threatening to killer more police officers.
Gilmore said "I think the sight of somebody appearing in a mask and menacingly threatening Catholics, who joined the PSNI, nationalists who joined the PSNI, that they would be killed, threatening the governments and threatening the people of this country, that belongs to the past and that is the past,"
The Tanaiste was meeting with the Irish American Congressman Richard Neal in Dublin on Tuesday when he made the comments.
In Derry Father Michael Canny has offered to meet with the Real IRA in an attempt to convince them to abandon violence. He told RTE (Ireland's national broadcaster) that he is eager to engage with them and stop them going down the road which leads to "death, despair and misery".
He said that the dissidents should be told at every opportunity that "human life is sacred".
Gilmore said "The arrangements in this country have been settled by the Good Friday Agreement, been voted on by the people of this country and nobody has any right to challenge that in the way that these people are doing. The Government is absolutely determined that they will not succeed…If there is anybody who can persuade these people away from the path that they are on and the threats that they are making, then certainly I would welcome that. And I would hope that that would be helpful.”
Leader of the Fianna Fail party, Micheal Martin said "These deluded criminals fail to comprehend the true meaning of republicanism and quite clearly have nothing but contempt for this country and its people,” he said. "Any terrorist group that believes they can return Ireland to the violence of the past is gravely mistaken. Foolish attempts to attack our peace process will not be tolerated and will not work.”
Independent member of Northern Ireland Policing Board, Trevor Ringland, said the threats in the statement were “appalling”, “sinister” and a “throwback to the past”. Ringland commented that the PSNI served both loyalist and republicans.
According the Irish Times reports, former SDLP leader Mark Durkan said the Real IRA’s words "are intended to intimidate everyone but their pretensions to legitimacy will impress no one…Politicians do not really have to argue that this group is morally and politically bankrupt when they are driven to attack and threaten nationalists who want to serve the community and their country through a policing vocation."
A statement released by the Real IRA on Monday said they were not in talks with the Irish or British government and refused to enter into any talks unless they revolved around "the restoration of the Irish sovereignty".
The statement read "If the British are serious about discussing the restoration of Irish sovereignty then we will listen to their proposals, anything else is a waste of time…Óglaigh na hÉireann call on any young nationalist who may have been sold the lie that the RUC/PSNI is somehow a reformed, non-political police service to think again. Those who think they are serving their community are in fact serving the occupation and will be treated as such."
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