Former IRA commander says dissidents to display ‘big show’ in Britain for Easter Rising

A former IRA commander has said the dissident republicans will make a “big show” by plotting gun or bomb attacks in Britain during the celebrations of the centenary of the Easter Rising.

Sean O’Callaghan, who now lives in England for his own safety, has said the IRA would mark the birth of Irish republicanism in 2016. The former commander said we are entering a “very dangerous period.”

“There's an inevitable momentum as you move towards 2016, as dissidents become more determined to be relevant,” said O’Callaghan. “They'll be very keen to prove they are the big show in town on the republican side.”

Speaking at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), King's College London, he said, “If they can undertake operations here, they will,” the Irish Independent reports.

He added the dissidents are “trying to kill people all the time.”

The 59-year-old former member of the Sinn Fein national executive has admitted to being involved in over 60 terrorists attacking during the 1970s. O’Callaghan was once the head of the IRA’s southern command. He turned himself in to British authorities in 1988. He served eight years in prison for two murders and was granted early release by Queen Elizabeth.

O’Callaghan’s warnings come as tensions in Northern Ireland have been raised in recent weeks due to the decision to stop flying the Union Flag, on Belfast City Hall.