The Police Service of Northern Ireland is to investigate claims that the Real IRA has admitted firebombing shops in Newry, Co Down, three days ago.
In a call to UTV's U105 radio station, the Real IRA claimed that it had placed the incendiary devices, which destroyed four shops and damaged five others.
A PSNI spokeswoman said that no claim has been made to the police, but they would "now be investigating these claims made to the media". The spokeswoman added that the Real IRA rarely contacted the police when taking responsibility for an incident, but usually did so through the media.
Shops owned by TK Maxx, MFI, Carpetright and JJB Sports were all destroyed, causing damage totalling tens of millions of pounds, on August 9th. That date marked the 35th anniversary of the introduction of internment - once one of the most emotive dates in the republican calendar - when hundreds of men were arrested in nationalist areas and detained without being formally charged.
The admission came as council and business leaders met in emergency session and pledged to get the shops back in business. All sides were represented at yesterday's meeting to discuss the future of the four stores.
The "Real IRA" also claimed that it had left devices on the Belfast-Dublin railway line at the same time as the incendiaries were planted in Newry. It warned people to stay away from the city's Barcroft Park as some devices might not have exploded. The cross-Border rail line between Newry and Dundalk in Co Louth has been closed.
The Real IRA is the organisation which bombed Omagh eight years ago, killing 29 people and injuring more than 300.