The deputy of the anti-terrorist branch of the Metropolitan Police got prime time spots on all the news bulletins to advise the "community" that they had the power and wherewithal to stop such bombing in the future. He pointed out that we all live near or know such (read Irish) people and that therefore any suspicious behaviour, deviation from their usual lifestyles patterns or anything else should be reported to the police. He pointed out that they would prefer to have a thousand pieces that led nowhere than to miss one vital piece of information that may prove important. What is interesting is that there were no dissenting voices to this alarming type of scare mongering and the deliberating targeting of a whole community. Liberty and human rights lawyers from the past remained silent. Irish community groups said nothing and indeed if they had been asked would no doubt have fallen over themselves to agree.

In the current political climate of fear and moral outrage and risk aversion, no one seems to question any more the right of the police and the state to act with whatever authoritarian approach they deem necessary. To target a whole community because of one act is accepted as the norm and "sure if they had nothing to hide why should you complain" is the accepted mantra of left and right alike. Indeed as we know, there is no left and right in the true sense, just each party and interest group attempting to outdo each other on just how authoritarian they can be. In the current climate they have no problem justifying each further call for tighter measures to restrict any and all aspects of our lives. In a society where it will soon be the norm to have curfews on 10-year-old children on housing estates with the back up of electronic tags, the actions against so called terrorist communities are applauded and imbued with a high sense of moral authority.

I have spent 12 years in London, many of them campaigning for Irish political prisoners and against Britain’s war in Ireland and I can honestly say that the situation has never been worse. In the past we could tell the British people that they should question their Governments actions in Ireland because all the draconian and illegal measures used there would eventually be integrated into policy at home and directed against them. That day has come to pass with the Prevention of Terrorism act on the statute books to be used against, the passing of the Asylum Bill and more importantly, the complete failure of any group to question the rising authoritarian nature of this government. As we now evaluate where the Irish Republican project has brought us to and where to go from here, it is worth reminding ourselves of just how bad things are and the uphill struggle we face in the new climate of fear and moral outrage.