The security services have reportedly said they fear that northern territory offers an easy target for Islamist extremist groups to launch plots in the UK . Two senior security officials have suggested that there is a “ blind spot ” to Islamist extremism in Northern Ireland . These fears are based on the fact that the government ’s Prevent counter - terrorism strategy does n’t extend to Northern Ireland ; the police there are focused on sectarian violence rather than external threats ; and terrorist cells could base themselves in Northern Ireland and then slip across the border , which is not closely monitored . Ian Paisley , the democratic Unionist Party ( DUP ) MP , agreed , arguing that : “ The key issue is not that we have n’t got Prevent , it ’s have we got our own policies in place to make people aware of radicalisation amongst people – not for Irish terrorism but Isil terrorism . ”
The security services have reportedly said they fear that Northern Ireland offers an easy target for Islamist extremist groups to launch plots in the UK. Two senior government ministers have suggested that there is a “blind spot” to Islamist extremism in Northern Ireland. These fears are based on the fact that the government’s Prevent counter-terrorism strategy doesn’t extend to Northern Ireland; the police there are focused on sectarian violence rather than external threats; and terrorist cells could base themselves in Northern Ireland and then slip across the border, which is not closely monitored. Ian Paisley, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP, agreed, arguing that: “The key issue is not that we haven’t got Prevent, it’s have we got our own policies in place to make people aware of radicalisation amongst people – not for Irish terrorism but Isil terrorism.”