Dissidents setting up checkpoints

The reappearance of paramilitary checkpoints on the streets of Northern Ireland has been branded sinister and unwelcome.

Masked and armed men illegally stopped cars in Meigh village in the once notorious south Armagh, which was known as 'bandit country' during the Troubles.

Police officers on routine patrol in the area - just outside Newry and only miles from the border with the Irish Republic - spotted the suspicious activity.

It is suspected that dissident republicans trying to assert themselves in the predominantly nationalist village were behind the stunt.

Local Assembly member Dominic Bradley, of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party, said the men were handing out propaganda leaflets to motorists.

"This was an attempt by this group to make themselves relevant," he said. "But most of the people in this area have no tolerance for that type of activity - they didn't in the past and they certainly don't now."

The leaflets warned people not to co-operate with police on both sides of the border, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Garda.

It also advised against people speaking with Sinn Fein or MI5 and carried threats against anti-social behavior and drug-dealing, according to Mr Bradley.

"This is an unwelcome development and harks back to a time which most people here have moved on from and want to leave firmly in the past," he said.

"I am confident that people in the area will not allow this type of activity, which was never welcome, to deter them from moving forward into a better future. I would ask anyone who has any information regarding this incident to convey it to the police without delay."