Trouble flares after republican dissidents jailed
Rioting flared last night in north Armagh, Northern Ireland, just hours after a three man republican dissident gang from the area were jailed for 15 years over a plot to kill police officers.
A lorry and van were hijacked during disturbances in Lurgan which at one staged caused disruption to the Belfast-Dublin rail line.
Trouble erupted on the republican Kilwilkie Estate where the van was hijacked and left burning on the railway track.
SDLP assembly member Dolores Kelly said there had been reports of armed and masked men in parts of the town and that the violence was “futile”.
“The trouble was anticipated by both police and the community given the sentencing of three men for dissident crimes earlier,” she said.
Kelly added: “It is very serious and highly organised, with stockpiling of petrol since yesterday, and we are getting reports of more hijackings and armed and masked men being seen in parts of the town.
“But my main concern is for the young people who are getting caught up in rioting. I would ask them to reflect on what is happening here.
“Tonight three young men are beginning long prison sentences to absolutely no purpose whatsoever.”
Public transport company Translink said rail services had been disrupted between Lisburn and Portadown.
A few hours earlier a Belfast court sentenced three Lurgan men for 15 years over a mortar bomb plot to kill police officers earlier this year.
Damien McKenna, 26, Gary Toman, 24, and Sean McConville, 23, pleaded guilty. The police said they believed the men were members of the Continuity IRA. They had been under surveillance by members of an Army special forces unit.
