Truck containing bomb components found on major Irish highway

Although most of the parties involved in the Northern Ireland troubles have now laid down their arms, there are still Republican dissidents who carry on the fight for a united Ireland.

In any year in Northern Ireland, there are always concerns around Christmas and New Year that Republican dissidents might try and show that they are still active by causing mayhem in a small town. On New Year’s Eve these fears were justified when the Police Service of Northern Ireland announced that a truck packed with the components and material necessary to create a 500kg bomb had been found on the main highway linking Dublin and Belfast at Cloghogue in south Armagh. According to The Guardian, motorists had been driving past the truck for a few days. It was parked under a flyover and the potential bomb would have been roughly twice the size of the device that devastated Omagh in 1998. At this stage, it's not known which dissident group is responsible for the potential bomb. The Real IRA and Continuity IRA have both been active in recent months, showing that although peace reigns most of the time, there are still dark forces at work behind the scenes.