The New IRA terror group has warned of more attacks on prison officers and members of the security forces in Northern Ireland.
In a statement to mark the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland, the paramilitary organisation claimed that “a century on and the IRA armed actions against Britain and her agents are (as) legitimate as they were in 1916.”
In a warning that it was prepared to target more prison officers following the murder of Adrian Ismay in a van bomb earlier this month, the hardline dissident republican said: “The IRA will not leave our prisoners at the mercy of Britain and will take further action as we see fit.”
The New IRA is the largest of the three main republican terror groups opposed to the peace process and the political power-sharing arrangement between unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland.
In their 2016 Easter statement, the New IRA said: “As we look to the future Britain is stuck in their colonial past. While their occupation, the accompanying denial of national self-determination and partition remain the IRA will continue to target any and all of those who assist in those injustices.”
The statement issued on behalf of the organisation’s ‘army council’  described the 1916 Rising as an “unfinished revolution”.
It added: “The volunteer soldiers of the IRA are ready and determined to take the war to the age old enemy of our nation.”
The New IRA is an alliance of hardline republicans made up of former Real IRA members, units of a vigilante group Republican Action Against Drugs and republicans from nationalist areas of Northern Ireland such as East Tyrone.
However, most nationalists in Northern Ireland “as evidenced by repeated election results” support Sinn Fein’s peaceful political strategy to achieve Irish unity.