DUBLIN (Reuters) – Nine of the 10 people arrested last week in an investigation of the militant Irish nationalist New IRA group have been charged on a range of offences from directing terrorism to conspiracy to possess explosives, Northern Ireland police said on Monday.
The New IRA, one of a small number of active militant groups opposed to Northern Ireland’s 1998 peace deal, have been behind some of the sporadic attacks that have continued, including the murder of journalist Lyra McKee last year. [nL8N2DO5J8]
The nine people were charged with a total of 38 offences as a result of a coordinated investigation with police in Scotland, Ireland and Britain that was also assisted by Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence agency.
The 10th person arrested remains in custody.
The New IRA is far smaller than the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which disarmed after the peace accord mostly ended three decades of conflict between mainly Protestant supporters of continued British rule of the province and largely Catholic proponents of unification with the Irish Republic.
The group was formed in 2012 after three of the four main militant nationalist groups merged, the first time since the peace deal that most of the disparate nationalist groups still intent on violence came together under one leadership.
It has also been responsible for the separate killings of two prison officers since then.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
