A HARD Brexit risks prompting a “recruitment drive” for the IRA, MPs visiting Northern Ireland have been told.
Giving evidence to the Commons Brexit Committee in the city of Armagh, close to the Border with the Irish Republic, the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Deputy Chief Constable Drew Harris warned any infrastructures along the border would provide a target and a rallying call to the IRA.
The Irish Government has insisted that if Northern Ireland is not in ‘regulatory alignment’ with the Irish Republic — i.e. effectively in the single market — the re-erection of a physical border would be needed.
Theresa May has insisted an open border could continue if Northern Ireland leaves the single market, but her claim has been dismissed by the EU.
Asked by committee chairman Hilary Benn what would be the consequences of new border infrastructure, Harris said: “Violent dissident groups see this as an area which is contentious, as a further rallying call, to try and engender support and drive recruitment and so it is of concern.
“We know from information that we have that they have a focus on this. They see it as an opportunity and that is for ourselves, the Garda Siochana and M15 to cope with, to deal with”, as he underlined that infrastructure on the border would be “an obvious point for dissident groups to rally around and attack.
He said the threat from dissident republicans remains severe in Northern Ireland and that there were four attempts on the lives of police officers over the past year.
There were also 58 shootings and over 32 bombing incidents, though few had been reported by the national media.
Harris told the committee it was regrettable that a lot of the current border conversations “take us back to the 80s.”
The Deputy Chief Constable outlined a number of shared European initiatives, such as the European Arrest Warrant, shared information systems and joint probe teams, which have helped in the fight against crimes including human trafficking and drug smuggling.
He told the committee he would be concerned if the shared systems were lost.
Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Martin, head of the PSNI’s serious and organised crime branch, also told members there is good cross-border cooperation between the PSNI and the Garda.
He said the two organisations assist each other “across a whole spectrum of crime.”
Martin said the PSNI has been sharing intelligence with the Garda in relation to an ongoing drugs feud in Dublin that had resulted in a number of murders.
Two key members of the committee, Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg and DUP MP Sammy Wilson did not attend the meeting.
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