The Five Demands

L’ONH si confessa ad Irish News

A parlare è un irlandese senza un nome, irlandese come i “warriors of Irlend” (guerrieri irlandesi), irlandese come gli “Irish Volunteers” (volontari irlandesi).
Il cardinale Sean Brady, alla testa della chiesa cattolica in Irlanda, l’ha definita “immorale ed un’offesa a Dio”. L’Oglaigh na hEireann invece vuole presentare la sua reale faccia e lo fa così ad Irish News, dopo 4 anni dalla sua ‘fondazione’, pur non nascondendo l’esiguità del numero dei suoi membri che fa però da contraltare alla capacità di ricordare che il ‘mito’ della normalità in Irlanda del Nord forse non risponde, così come si vuol far credere, alla realtà.
E’ stato firmato infatti dall’ONH l’attentato alla stazione della PSNI in Strand Road a Derry, durante il quale a brillare sono state 200 libre di esplosivo, così come il tentato attacco al quartier generale dell’MI5 dell’aprile scorso.
“La stragrande maggioranza dei nostri membri sono ex membri della Provisional IRA che hanno riconosciuto una credibile alternativa in ONH, e alcuni non sono mai stati coinvolti con ogni altro gruppo” ha rivelato il portavoce dell’organizzazione dissidente repubblicana.
Nessuna trattativa in corso con i governi britannico irlandese, ma ha ammesso l’esistenza di “tentativi indiretti” per aprire canali di comunicazione.
In risposta alle speculazioni di ieri di un prevedibile attacco in territorio britannico in occasione della conferenza stagionale dei Tories, l’Oglaigh na hEireann ha preferito non sbilanciarsi.
“In futuro, il nostra bersaglio sarà l’apparato britannico, che potrebbe essere a Belfast, Birmingham e Londra.
“Ci sta bene che le persone dicano che non ne abbiamo la capacità. Un anno fa, dicevano che non saremmo stati in grado nemmeno di far esplodere una bomba”.
E indica il suo reale scopo, “Abbiamo intenzione di stare alle calcagna dei britannici a fine di forzarli ad aprire i negoziati sull’ingerenza degli Inglesi negli affari Irlandesi”.

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Dissident group claims members are former IRA (BBC News Northern Ireland)
Forensic scientists at bomb scene Forensic scientists examine the taxi destroyed by the bomb outside Strand Road police station
One of the groups involved in the recent upsurge of dissident republican violence in Northern Ireland has said that most of its activists are former members of the Provisional IRA.
Monday’s Irish News newspaper includes an interview with a leading member of the dissident group Oglaigh na hEireann which is Irish for ‘warriors of Ireland’ or ‘Irish volunteers’.
The group denies being involved in secret meetings with the government, but it claims there have been “indirect attempts” by the government to open channels of communication.
Earlier this month, Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH) exploded a 200lb bomb outside the main police station in Londonderry, and in April it left a bomb outside MI5 headquarters in Northern Ireland.
“The vast majority of our members are former members of the Provisional IRA who recognised a credible alternative in ONH, and a few had previously not been involved with any other group,” an un-named member of the ONH ‘army council’ told the Irish News.
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Analysis
Oglaigh na hEireann are trying to smash the notion that the peace process is working.
With the help of a small number of former members of the Provisional IRA, they are attempting to mount regular attacks in Northern Ireland and a campaign on the UK mainland.
However, even they seem to recognise that they do not have enough support in the nationalist community, or sufficient activists, to achieve their goals.
Instead they say they intend to “nick at the heels of the Brits” rather than mount a full-blown campaign of violence.
Although they want to strike in England, there is nothing in the Oglaigh na hEireann interview to suggest an attack is imminent.
It seems to be a relatively small paramilitary group run by a handful of fanatics.
The immediate challenge facing the authorities is to make sure it does not get any bigger.
It is the first detailed interview given by ONH since it emerged four years ago.
At the weekend, there were reports that dissidents intended targeting the Tory Party conference in Birmingham later this year.
The ONH member said: “There are reports every Sunday about what ONH are going to do but we do not speak to tabloid newspapers.
“In the future, we will target the British apparatus, should that be in Belfast, Birmingham or London.
“It’s OK for people to say we don’t have the capability. A year ago, they said we couldn’t even detonate a bomb.”
It admits to having only a small number of members and very little support, but says it is determined to wreck political stability in Northern Ireland.
The ONH member said: “What we intend to achieve is to continually upset and expose this myth of normalisation.
“We intend to nick at the heels of the Brits to eventually force them into a situation where they open up negotiations on the issue of the British interference in Irish affairs.”
Also in the Irish News, the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, described dissident violence as “evil”.
He added: “It is immoral and an offence against God.
“I appeal to all to reject any attempt to entice a new generation of young people into the futility, misery and evil of violence.”