Northern Ireland faces an imminent threat from a group of disorganised but dangerous dissident republican terrorists, Sir Hugh Orde said today.
After his officers put out a warning last night about an increased terrorist threat from the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA, the PSNI's Chief Constable said that while they appear to be concentrating on mounting attacks in the North, he has no doubt that dissidents will target other parts of the UK if they can.
The Real IRA were behind the 1998 Omagh bomb.
"They have the intent to cause as much damage as they can to the peace process in Northern Ireland," he said as he arrived at an event on a police code of ethics in Stormont.
"They want to destroy what has been achieved in Northern Ireland. That is why it is incumbent on everyone to help and to work with us to bring these people to our attention, to give us any information they have, to make sure that we can actually bring them to justice with a proper judicial process."
Police have put in place in Northern Ireland increased security measures including vehicle checkpoints.
The warning came two days after the dissident "Real" IRA used a Dublin-published Sunday newspaper to claim that it is going on the offensive again. That threat came two days after it was announced from Buckingham Palace that the Queen will visit the North on the Thursday before Easter to distribute Maundy Money outside the Church Of Ireland Cathedral in Armagh - the first time a monarch has carried out the ceremony outside England and Wales.
The Real IRA, which was behind the 1998 Omagh bomb, shot and wounded police officers last November in incidents in Derry and Dungannon.
Northern Ireland's ceasefire watchdog, the Independent Monitoring Commission, has repeatedly said the Real IRA and other dissident groups like the Continuity IRA remain a threat.