Northern Ireland Shooting: Three Arrested, Investigators Focused on New IRA

Facts

Three men, aged 38, 45, and 47, were arrested in connection with the attempted murder of Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell on Wednesday in the town of Omagh in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland (NI). Officials have stated "violent dissident republicans" are the "prime focus" of the current investigation.
After coaching a youth soccer team, Caldwell was shot multiple times by two gunmen while he and his son were putting balls away in the back of the car. He is reportedly in stable but critical condition at Altnagelvin Hospital in Londonderry.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan of Police Service Northern Ireland said the country's terror threat level is "substantial," meaning another attack is "highly likely."
The perpetrators are suspected to be from the New IRA, a small armed nationalist group opposed to the 1998 Good Friday peace deal. As a detective, Caldwell led investigations into organized crime and dissident paramilitary groups.
Omagh was the site of the 1998 car bombing that killed 29 people, for which a group called the Real IRA claimed responsibility. Colm Eastwood of the Irish Nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party said the latest attack is "a chilling reminder of the horrifying violence that criminal gangs" have inflicted.
More recently, the New IRA has been linked to the planting of a bomb under a policewoman's car in 2021 and claimed responsibility for the 2019 murder of journalist Lyra McKee, who was covering clashes in the city of Londonderry.

Narrative A, as provided by Spectator. Those who shot detective Caldwell echo the perpetrators who terrorized the North for decades before the peace accord. What these groups want are terrified communities and depleted law enforcement in order to continue to use violence to push their political agenda. Although there has been relative peace for many years now, this attempted murder should wake people up to the possibility of renewed violence — especially as the Northern Ireland Protocol debates ensue.
Narrative B, as provided by Belfast Telegraph. While unfortunately the threat of violence in Northern Ireland still remains because of the sporadic attacks by the IRA, the region has made continued progress toward ensuring peace for more than a decade. Law enforcement and intelligence authorities — who are the reason the North has remained peaceful — must look into why a planned attack wasn't flagged earlier given the proximity of the IRA's influence to the scene of the crime.