Independent has an NI day

I know…..but only just got round to reading the papers:
The Independent concentrates on:
a) The dissident threat:
“The scale of the problem was revealed by Jonathan Evans, the director general of MI5, who told the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee: “What was not anticipated … was the way in which the situation in Northern Ireland had deteriorated. The Service had considerably more what we would call priority, that is life-threatening, investigations in Northern Ireland than we do in the rest of Great Britain.”
In response, MI5 has increased its resources in Ulster from 13 per cent to 18 per cent. Officials say this may have to rise again if the security situation continues to deteriorate.”

b) The Economy:
“The international goodwill generated by the peace process a decade ago has been and mostly gone. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement negotiators squandered their best card, at a time when Tony Blair was prepared to concede virtually anything to get a deal. The home team – nationalist and unionist – should have demanded a cut in the province’s corporate tax rate to bring it into line with the Republic to transform its heavily dependent public-sector workforce”
c) An editorial:
“…But we should not overreact. Britain’s Special Forces reconnaissance group, which is reported to be operating in Northern Ireland, must not be drawn in to another armed confrontation. There can be no question of reviving the heavy-handed tactics that once characterised our response to republican terrorism.
The bombers would like nothing more than to see British Army patrols back on the streets on Belfast. There must be more mature, and ultimately more effective ways of responding to this brand of pseudo-nationalistic nihilism. And Sinn Fein should be at the vanguard of devising them.”

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