No Deal Brexit could swell IRA ranks and see police attacks surge, Northern Ireland’s top cop warns

A NO Deal Brexit could see the IRA’s ranks swell and attacks on police surge, Northern Ireland’s top cop has warned.

Loyalist paramilitary groups would also start growing again to counter their Republican rivals, the said.

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And he fears even stand-off checks on goods being imposed away from the border would make his officers a fresh target for terrorists.

Mr Byrne told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “The fear is if there is a hard Brexit, the way this could play out is as a trigger and a fuelling point for people on both sides of the community to join a hardline movement”.

He added: “The minute we go into those areas to support checkpoints, we become a target for dissident republicans.

“If we’re not very careful, we could drift back to almost a paramilitary style of policing that nobody wants”.

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Simon Byrne's warning comes as the pound jumped in value after Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel agreed to give Boris Johnson time to find an alternative to the Irish backstop.

The French president reluctantly backed the German Chancellor's plan to give Mr Johnson 30 days to come up with a plan to replace the backstop.

The PM was soon after pictured punching the air as he arrived back in London visiting Berlin and Paris in a bid to avoid the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal on October 31.

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