The New IRA is planning a campaign to drive migrants out of Ireland, with security officials warning that the dissident republican group could 'take matters into their own hands' amid growing tensions over immigration.
Security sources told the Daily Mail that the group, which emerged from the Real IRA and continues to pursue Irish reunification, has noticed anger surrounding migration on both sides of the Irish border. A video circulating on social media last week appeared to show an unidentified man speaking on behalf of the New IRA, and issuing an ultimatum to migrants in Ireland. “They will take control, and they will give an ultimatum, not to politicians but to the illegal migrants who are in the country,” the man claimed, adding that the British Army had respected the IRA during the Troubles for their "effectiveness and professionalism".
He then declared, “it is now going to be time for civil war... that is exactly what these guys are going to be doing. And can you blame them?" In July, Irish police charged law student Isobella Perrie Sullivan, 25, with possessing explosives after a bomb was found in a vehicle in the Republic of Ireland during an operation focused on dissident republican activity. Sullivan's defense has told the court she was asked to take a bag to Northern Ireland without knowing its contents.
“[New IRA] have two aims: Irish independence and all migrants out,” a source told the Mail, describing the reported campaign as part of a power struggle between factions descended from the old republican movement. The warning comes amid growing tensions surrounding mass migration across Ireland. Governments in Dublin and Belfast have been accused of failing to adequately address pressures on housing and public services.
In June, an attack in Belfast that was recorded and posted online saw Sudanese asylum seeker Hadi Alodid attempting to behead local man Stephen Ogilvie, sparking riots. Security officials believe the New IRA could point to such incidents and wider concerns over housing, public services and immigration. The Real IRA was formed in 1997 by former members of the Provisional IRA who rejected the peace process. In 2012, it merged with other dissident republican factions to commit to ending British sovereignty in Northern Ireland and establishing a united Ireland, and became known as the New IRA.
