Dublin criminal underworld supplied dissident republicans

Guns used by dissident republicans in the brutal murders of two British soldiers and a PSNI constable were sourced through the Dublin criminal underworld, the Irish Independent has learned.A clear picture is now emerging about the leadership of the Real IRA and Continuity IRA groups behind the killings, with “the weight of the leadership residing in the south”, according to senior police sources.However, despite the close timing of the killings, the authorities do not believe the dissident groups coordinated the attacks.It also emerged last night that the Real IRA has been engaged in an active recruitment campaign in the wake of the atrocities.
The revelations are set to heap pressure on Taoiseach Brian Cowen to move swiftly to clamp down on the dissident groups operating here. Yesterday he revealed he would discuss the killings with US President Barack Obama when the pair meet next week.
More than 350 PSNI officers are now involved in the massive manhunt for both sets of killers, with the assistance of MI5 and An Garda Siochana.Many more officers are involved in undercover surveillance duties, senior PSNI sources said.It had originally been thought that there was no “southern element” to the Real IRA murders of British Army engineers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey at Massereene Barracks in Antrim town and the Continuity IRA murder of Constable Stephen Carroll in Craigavon, Co Armagh.However, a different picture has begun to emerge as the investigations deepen.Senior PSNI sources said they believed the dissidents had opened up a supply line of new weaponry through Dublin gangland contacts and connections in Eastern Europe.It is thought some of the weapons came in to the country with drugs shipments ordered by Dublin gangs.The North’s Chief Constable, Hugh Orde, met with Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy and Deputy Commissioner for Operations Martin Callinan yesterday at PSNI headquarters in Belfast to discuss the situation.
Afterwards Commissioner Murphy said both forces were determined to deal with the current dissident threat.“An attack on any police officer is an attack on the whole of society,” he said.The high-level meeting took place just hours before a military service was held at Massereene Barracks for the slain British Army engineers and their bodies were released to their families.Commissioner Murphy was briefed on fears that dissident membership could swell in the aftermath of the attacks.
One police commander, Chief Inspector Chris Yates, revealed that the Real IRA was now on a recruitment drive in Derry.“These are dangerous groups, they are very much small in number, but they are very keen to increase their influence,” he warned.
“The reality is they are out there in the communities, working, trying to recruit people, trying to pervert people, trying to turn people to their cause and that’s very worrying.”Investigators do not believe the shooting dead of the soldiers and the murder 48 hours later of Constable Carroll were specifically coordinated.
“One success spurred on the other,” a senior officer said.“There was no suggestion of one group saying to the other: ‘We’ve got a Saturday spectacular, you get something for Monday’.”However, the officer said it was apparent the separate dissident groups had spent a considerable amount of time organising the logistics for the attacks, including the purchase of the weapons involved.“There is a constant effort on the part of the dissidents to obtain weapons,” he added.Investigators have been able to draw up a list of the key figures in the dissident groups.“The leaders are identifiable to us,” the officer said, adding that while there were some prominent figures in the North, the real heavy hitters were based south of the border.Senior PSNI sources also said they now believe the Massereene Barracks gunmen came from outside the Antrim area.They described it as a “classic assassination”, which demonstrated a degree of training or a degree of experience on the part of the gunmen.Detectives have identified the calibre and type of weapons used in the Massereene attack, but do not want to reveal those details for operational reasons.
Senior officers said an analysis of what is known about the Real IRA’s structure indicated that it did not currently have the capability to mount a campaign in a cohesive fashion.Different sections have different leaders making it difficult for them to achieve “an organisational thrust”, the officers said.However, this disorganisation also makes it more difficult for the security services to gather intelligence on the group.