THE hardline breakaway loyalist group, the Loyalist Volunteer Force, has claimed responsibility for planting a bomb in Dundalk and has warned that it plans to launch further attacks in the Republic.
A vacuum flask packed with a small quantity of commercial explosives partially exploded in a laneway off Clanbrassil Street in the town. Noone was injured in the attack.
In a telephone call to a Belfast newsroom yesterday, the LVF admitted planting the device and warned that there would be more no warning bombs.
The LVF caller said: "This bomb failed to go off because of a technical problem which has now been sorted. Further attacks will continue as long as Dublin interferes in Ulster affairs. These attacks will take the form of no warning bomb attacks as in Dundalk." The LVF is Northern Ireland's latest loyalist paramilitary group. It was formed by dissident UVF members in MidUlster, disillusioned with the peace process and the loyalist ceasefire.
It has attracted other dissidents in Belfast, particularly in the Rathcoole area in the north of the city, and in Co Antrim.
The LVF has attracted mainly former UVF members. although it has also recruited former UDA activists. It is believed to have been responsible for the murder of prominent GAA figure, Mr Sean Brown, in Bellaghy, Co Derry, a fortnight ago.
It has also been involved in a spate of arson attacks on churches in the North. The LVF is believed to have used the commercial explosive, Powergel, in the attack in Dundalk.
Around 25lb of Powergel was used in a device left outside Sinn Fein's offices in Monaghan in March. The bomb did not explode. Loyalists have traditionally lacked the technical expertise in explosives that republican paramilitaries acquired during the Troubles.
Their devices are substantially cruder. Only the detonator is understood to have gone off in the LVF bomb in Dundalk. The remains of the device are under examination by forensic experts in Dublin.
Earlier this year, loyalists carried out failed car bomb attacks outside Sinn Fein offices in north and west Belfast. The RUC, however, is believed to be seriously worried about the threat from the LVF.
The leader of the Ulster Democratic party, Mr Gary McMichael, said that the LVF was outside the control of the Combined Loyalist Military Command and was extremely hostile to the organisation.
The LVF was a dangerous group, determined to destroy the peace process and instigate wider conflict, he added.
Elaine Keogh in Dundalk writes: Security sources say there was one kilo of the commercial explosive Powergel in the bomb. Twelve kilogrammes of the same explosive was used in a device that failed to explode outside the Sinn Fein office in Monaghan in March. It also failed to explode.
The Dundalk device consisted of a thermos flask with an alarm clock and the explosive but it failed to detonate. It was left in a plastic bag in an alleyway off Clanbrassil Street in the town centre and was within feet of one of the main shopping areas.
The plastic bag came from a boutique with outlets in Craigavon and Portadown. If it had exploded, gardai say it would have caused "considerable damage" although it was not in a main pedestrian thoroughfare. Security is being reviewed by the gardai in the light of the incident and they have asked the public to be extra vigilant about suspicious activity.