Northern Ireland Police have “strong intelligence” of attacks planned against officers on Easter Monday | UK News

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The warning comes just days before President Joe Biden is due to visit Belfast to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Friday, April 7, 2023 03:38, United Kingdom

Police in Northern Ireland said they had “strong” intelligence on terror attacks against their officers on Easter Monday.

Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief Simon Byrne said officers would be moved to frontline duties to tackle any potential threats, in a police strategy he said had not been used in years.

He said this reflected the “extraordinary circumstances” ahead of the Easter break.

Speaking in Belfast, Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister Michael Martin condemned the threat of a terrorist attack as “criminality at its worst” and said that “evil people think of it”.

The warning comes just days before US President Joe Biden is due to arrive in Belfast on Tuesday.

The President’s trip will focus strongly on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which falls on Easter Monday. He will also visit Dublin, Co. Louth and the Mayo Company.

MI5 recently raised the terrorist threat level in Northern Ireland to severe, which means an attack is highly likely.

It followed the shooting of senior detective John Caldwell in Co Teron, who was left with life-changing injuries.

Police blamed the New IRA for the attack.

Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said the force had received “strong” intelligence that the defectors were planning terrorist attacks against officers over the bank holiday weekend.

Photo: PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton

“It’s going to be a really important weekend for PSNI,” ACC Singleton told a news conference in Belfast.

“There is also a very strong community intelligence coming out specifically in relation to Monday’s events in Derry/Londonderry and real concerns that there may be attempts to draw the police into serious public disorder and use that as a platform to launch terrorist attacks on the police as well.

“So going into our operation that’s something that’s very clear at the forefront of my mind, the minds of the leaders who will deliver that and of course our officers as well.”

Police Chief Byrne said the police strategy, which will see some officers work 12-hour shifts and some “out-of-the-frontline roles to support collective efforts to focus on preventing further terrorist outrage,” will remain in place for about 10 days and then be reviewed.

Easter is the day on which dissident republicans traditionally commemorate the Easter Rising against British rule in 1916, with a parade in Londonderry.

The terrorist threat level has been raised in Northern Ireland

Singleton said, “The intent is still the same. I think as I see it, it’s the risk, it’s the potential platform, in particular, that the general mayhem might happen.”

“We don’t have to go back far, unfortunately, to see exactly this kind of scenario play out in Derry/Londonderry in the past.

“So that’s something that the police chiefs and I have in mind as we approach this event, and it’s going to be something that we’ll have to keep under constant review depending on how things develop in the day.”

When asked if weapons and explosives could be used to target police in Londonderry, he said: “We’ve seen that in the past, and on that basis, we have to be prepared for that and we’ll be prepared for all possibilities Monday.”

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