Republican splinter group blamed for bomb attack near Irish border

A minor bomb attack by a dissident republican group in Co Tyrone yesterday served notice that not all of Northern Ireland's activists are fighting in the election.

A minor bomb attack by a dissident republican group in Co Tyrone yesterday served notice that not all of Northern Ireland's activists are fighting in the election.

The 10lb bomb in a holdall exploded at 3am outside the RUC station at Sion Mills, not far from the border with the Irish Republic. No injuries were caused and damage to the station was minimal. About 50 families were evacuated after the bag was found. There were several warnings about the bomb but it went off before an army bomb disposal squad could move in to defuse it.

The RUC District Commander, Superintendent Clifford Best, condemned the attack as totally reckless and indiscriminate, saying: "We are all trying to work in partnership for the betterment of the community but yet we have these dissidents who are still deeply rooted in the past and will not come from that. They have nothing to offer but misery, death and destruction."

Some of his sentiments were echoed by the Sinn Fein president, Gerry Adams, who urged dissident republicans to end such activity. He said: "What they are doing has no part to play and is out of step with republican views and the main feeling of republican people at this time. There's a chance of building peace and these people need to be part of that."

It was the latest in a series of attacks in recent weeks in and around the Derry and Tyrone areas. None has caused severe damage but they serve as a reminder that a small but potentially deadly republican faction remains intent on fighting on. The group which was probably responsible, the Real IRA, also has ambitions to bring violence to England during the election. A week ago, Scotland Yard warned that the group intended "to attack the election process". The Sion Mills attack continues a long tradition of elections in Northern Ireland being marked by violence over the last 30 years.

Earlier this week, an important republican figure, Dermot Gannon, was jailed for four years in Dublin for membership of another republican splinter group, the Continuity IRA. While on remand Gannon switched allegiance and joined the Real IRA. This was in line with the general sense that the threat posed by the Continuity IRA has receded while that of the Real IRA has grown.

He was the first person to be convicted of membership of an illegal organisation under legislation introduced in both the Republic and the UK after the 1998 Omagh bomb. Part of the evidence against him was a declaration in court by the head of the Irish Special Branch that he believed Gannon belonged to an illegal organisation.