MI5 warns of terror threat on British mainland

The director-general of the Security Service, Jonathan Evans, said there had been a “persistent rise” in “activity and ambition” by dissident groups in Northern Ireland over the past three years.

Even though they do not have the capacity to return to the levels of violence caused by Provisional IRA at the height of the Troubles, Evans said that they still represented “a real and rising security challenge.”

His warning comes after the threat when the Real IRA publicly threatened to target banks and other financial institutions in the City of London, accusing them of “financing Britain’s colonial and capitalist system.”

Evans said that while MI5’s “main effort” remained focused on international terrorism, it had been necessary to reinforce its presence in Northern Ireland to deal with the heightened threat.

He also highlighted the way the Al Qaida threat had diversified and the potential that terrorists could target the 2012 London Olympics.