The chief constable of the RUC, Ronnie Flanagan, said today that dissident Republican paramilitary groups are posing a real threat to the Northern peace process.
Mr Flanagan's warning came as Gardaí carried out forensic tests on two large anti-aircraft guns, a machine gun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition found near Carrickmacross in County Monaghan, near the south Armagh border.
Mr Flannagan said he believed the Continuity IRA was planning to extend its campaign and carry out bomb attacks. He added there was nothing to suggest the main paramilitary groups, including the Provisional IRA, were about to disarm.
Further searches are to be carried out by Gardaí today in the area of Blackstaff, near Carrickmacross, where the anti-aircraft guns were found yesterday. The weapons were concealed in plastic tubing hidden in a wall in a field about five miles from the town of Carrickmacross, near the border with County Armagh. Several hundred rounds of ammunition were also recovered. Gardaí said the find was made as part of an on-going investigation. Superintendent Tom Flannery of Carrickmacross gardaí said today that the weapons found are extremely powerful.
Also reacting to the latest arms find, the Ulster Unionist security spokesman Ken Maginnis said it vindicated their insistence on decommissioning.
The deputy leader of the SDLP, Seamus Mallon, said the important issue was to continue with the political process set up by the Good Friday Agreement so a way could be found to achieve decommissioning.
