Security minister Ben Wallace says terrorists are still active in Northern Ireland and has pledged the Government won’t take its “eye off the ball” as Brexit approaches.
He said Britain has “kept a lid” on violence so far despite “potent and dangerous individuals” still operating in the province.
“They are definitely there and they are not going to go away. They are there for the long term,” he said of dissident republican threats.
Mr Wallace, a former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, said terrorists are still recruiting.
“The ones still active are definitely potent and dangerous individuals who have killed prison officers and police officers in the last few years,” he added.
However he stressed the quality of British police and security services, adding that Brexit did not automatically mean a flare-up in violence. He said dissident groups are largely disengaged with political events, and have not responded with threats during any of the stalled Stormont talks.
He said: “They didn’t seem to become more or less active. No one is taking their eye off the ball. We put in a lot of investment in there and will continue to do so.”
His warning at Conservative Party conference came as David Cameron’s former Independent Reviewer of Terrorism, Lord Carlile QC, claimed that a hard border with the Irish Republic after Brexit would lead to trouble.
Asked if terrorism could make a return in the province, he said: “Yes it could come back.”
“If we have a Brexit negotiation that creates a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland I think we are potentially asking for a great deal of trouble.”
The Government announced in a position paper this summer the UK and the Irish governments do not want a physical border after Brexit and will find an “unprecedented and creative” solution.
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Checkpoints were removed after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and there is complete freedom of movement between the countries.
However the EU’s lead negotiator Michel Barnier has said he is worried about the UK’s proposals for a invisible border, particularly if they affect the integrity of single market and customs union.
Lord Carlile, one of the UK’s top legal experts, said the number of terrorists remaining in Northern Ireland is “quite small” and security services know who they are.
He said: “I think we have that under control provided we haven’t Brexited out of the Good Friday Agreement.”
He and Mr Wallace were speaking at a conference fringe meeting.
