The bureau says it leads the US Department of State “in the whole-of-government effort to counter terrorism abroad and to secure the US against foreign terrorist threats”
The bureau says it leads the US Department of State “in the whole-of-government effort to counter terrorism abroad and to secure the US against foreign terrorist threats”.
It included the Dublin Riots in its Country Reports on Terrorism 2023 which was published last month.
Ireland was included in a category titled White-Identity Terrorism/Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism.
The report states: “In November [2023], Irish white supremacists and ultranationalists online spread disinformation regarding the nationality of a stabbing suspect arrested after stabbing two adults and three children. This anti-immigrant disinformation led to three days of white supremacist rioting in Dublin, inuring police and bystanders.”
The bureau said the it includes “all credible information about white-identity terrorism (WIT), including relevant attacks, the identification of perpetrators and victims of such attacks, the size and identification of organizations and networks, and the identification of notable ideologues”.
The rioting, fuelled on-line by far-right agitators, broke out on November 23rd, 2023, after three children and a care worker were stabbed outside a primary school and creche on Parnell Square East.
Some €20 million worth of damage was carried out during the riots with garda vehicles, buses and a Luas set on fire while several people including gardai were injured.
Opportunistic looting also broke out in the city centre on the night.
Gardai have arrested 65 people to date in relation to “serious public disorder events” in the city on the night and are expected to make further arrests.
A separate part of the report includes analysis of dissident republican organisations the Continuity IRA and the New IRA who they say cooperate.
They described CIRA as having been “active in Belfast and the border areas of Northern Ireland, where it has carried out bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, extortion operations, and robberies”.
They say the last attack claimed by the CIRA was in 2021 when they claimed responsibility for an attack on a police station in Fermanagh.
Last year Desmond Smith, from Kilnavara Crescent, Co Cavan and , Stephen Hamill (52), of Willow Ridge, Gortnakesh, Co Cavan were described as “surprising candidates” for helping the Continuity IRA in the “bizarre” attack on Enniskillen PSNI station.
They were both given suspended sentences at the Special Criminal Court after they pleaded guilty to knowingly rendering assistance to an organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Óglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the IRA in the performance or furtherance of an unlawful object in March 2021.
Neither man was alleged in court to be members of CIRA and both took to the stand to vow that they would “disassociate” themselves from criminal organisations and Republican paramilitaries. They swore that they “repudiated” unlawful organisations “and all their acts”.
Mr Smith, who has no previous convictions for any offences, told the Sunday World he wanted to move on with his life when we called to his home after the sentencing.
“It’s in the past,” he said before saying he was “not interested” in being interviewed about the bizarre case.
The case revolved around a supposed attack on Enniskillen PSNI station in March 2021 which was subsequently claimed by the CIRA but went unnoticed by police at the time. A call made to the media about the supposed attack led to a search during which an improvised “slam gun” was found close to the station.
The Us Bureau on Counterterrorism report described the CIRA as a small organisation.
“CIRA’s membership is small, with possibly fewer than 50 members,” the report said.
It said the organisation supports its activities “through criminal activities, including bank robberies, extortion, and smuggling”.
The report estimates the New IRA as having around 100 members and noted it had claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in 2023.
“In February [2023] the New IRA was suspected of shooting a senior police officer in Northern Ireland, and a statement purportedly from the group claimed responsibility for the attack. In April, police in Northern Ireland disrupted a New IRA bomb plot meant to coincide with President Biden’s visit to Belfast.”
In terms of New IRA funding the report says: “The New IRA receives funds from money laundering, smuggling, and other criminal activities, is suspected of receiving funds from sympathizers in the United States, and has attempted to buy weapons from gun dealers in the United States and the Balkans.”
