Republican dissident threat considerable

A number of papers reported that MI5 apparently believe that the greatest terrorist threat to the UK comes from Irish Republican dissidents not ‘Islamic’ fundamentalists.

The security services are picking up more suspicious activity from Northern Ireland's dissident republicans than from any other radical group in the UK, according to the Guardian. Up to 60% of all the security services' electronic intercepts - phonetaps and other covert technical operations - have come from dissidents, despite the threat posed by hundreds of suspected Islamist extremists on the UK mainland.

Sir Hugh Orde, chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, has separately confirmed that the dissident threat is the highest since he took office.