‘Strong intelligence’ of terror attacks in Northern Ireland on Easter Monday ahead of Biden visit

Belfast: The Northern Ireland police revealed that it has ‘strong intelligence’ of attacks being planned against its personnel on Easter Monday, just days before US President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Belfast to mark 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement.

Chief Constable Simon Byrne of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said that officers would be moved to frontline duties to counter any potential threats, in a policing strategy he recalled hadn’t been used for years.

“The exceptional circumstances,” ahead of the Easter weekend, he said demanded the move.

In Belfast, Irish deputy premier Micheal Martin condemned the threat of a terrorist attack as “criminality in its worst form” and said it was “very evil people who are contemplating this”.

US President Biden is due to reach Belfast on Tuesday. Biden’s trip will focus on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which falls on Easter Monday. As part of his official tour, he will also visit Dublin, Co Louth and Co Mayo.

British intelligence agency — the MI5 — recently raised the terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland to “severe”, meaning a potential attack could happen at any time. Sporadic violence in Northern Ireland by small groups has kept the threat level mostly at “severe” since the system was introduced in 2010.

This warning came soon after the shooting of senior detective John Caldwell in Co Tyrone, who has been left with life-changing injuries. The police have blamed the New IRA for the attack.

Easter Monday is the day dissident republicans traditionally mark the anniversary of the Easter Rising rebellion against British rule in 1916, with a parade set to take place in Londonderry.

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