UVF “under pressure” to break ceasefire

Members of the Ulster Volunteer Force are contemplating launching attacks against dissident republicans, according to one senior Unionist politician.

The Irish Independent reports that the politician, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, has reason to believe that elements of the UVF are becoming increasingly disquieted by the activity of dissident Republicans and could be planning an attack.

While the Provisional IRA has stuck steadfastly to its ceasefire since 1997, dissident Republication groups such as the Real IRA and Continuity IRA have remained active to various degrees, and that activity seems to have been ramped up significantly in recent months.

A murder of a man in the Clondalkin area last week is alleged to have been part of a turf war between the two dissident Republican groups, while Gardai are investigating Republican links to a stash of ammunition and a timing device discovered in County Louth on Tuesday.

The Ulster Defence Association was described as “stable” by the unidentified politician in the Independent report but there are growing gears that the UVF could be reconvening.

Both bodies officially ended all violence in 2007, 13 years after initially declaring ceasefires, while the UVF reportedly decommissioned its weapons in 2009.

Two years on, however, the sore of sectarian violence could be about to ooze its puss once again.