Soldiers out, or bombings will continue—I.R.A.

Press, 6 November 1984, Page 8

Soldiers out, or bombings will continue —I.R.A.

NZPA-AP Dublin The outlawed Irish Republican Army, which last month bombed Margaret Thatcher’s hotel, gave a warning yesterday that it would continue bombing Britain as long as its soldiers remained in Northern Ireland. The warning was delivered by an unidentified I.R.A. officer who read a statement from the I.R.A.'s ruling army council to the annual two-day convention of Sinn Fein, the I.R.A.’s legal political front. A Sinn Fein source, who spoke on condition he was

not named, relayed the officer’s comments to the press. The source said that a young guerrilla leader from Northern Ireland told the hundreds of delegates that as long as British troops were on the streets of Northern Ireland, there would be more bombs in Britain. That meant London and most cities, he said. The I.R.A. officer, who was dressed in civilian clothes and wore no mask, was given a standing ovation by the hundreds of Sinn Fein delegates and disappeared into the crowd

after his brief appearance, the source said. All journalists were ordered out of Dublin’s Mansion House before the I.R.A. officer appeared. Security was tight throughout the two-day affair. The Sinn Fein source said that the officer told delegates not to worry if the level of I.R.A. operations decreased because it meant that the I.R.A. was organising for attacks. Earlier, the Sinn Fein president, Gerry Adams, said that the bombing that nearly killed Mrs Thatcher and her Cabinet was a blow for democracy.