On his first visit to Fermanagh since taking up his new post, the Chief Constable, Matt Baggott, made a direct plea for people to come forward with information about dissident groups.

He was speaking during a visit to Garrison only days after the attempted murder of a Catholic police officer in the village.

The chief constable met a number of officers who serve in the area and spoke to members of the Garrison business community and political representatives. In Enniskillen he met members of Fermanagh District Council.

He said he was delighted with the overwhelming support of communities in Fermanagh for their police officers.

"I have spoken to shopkeepers and people in the street and everybody has said they really respect the PSNI and what we are doing. They have absolutely no time for people who are trying to injure police officers or take us back into the past."

Chief Constable Baggott praised the Garrison operation which he said had been 'a superb piece of policing on behalf of everybody'.

And he explained: "We have a minority of people who, for some reason, do not see that the future must be different. I have always said the terrorist threat is serious, and we have seen that over the weekend.

"The greatest thing we can do is isolate the people who are terrorists in their own communities so that the vast majority of people see good policing. That is what we are doing in a very exciting way and we are world leaders in neighbourhood policing."

Concluding Mr Baggott appealed directly to the people of Fermanagh to come forward with information, he added: "The challenge is that we have to turn information into evidence. Suspicion is not enough. That is where the community can play its part if there is any information about anyone involved in terrorism, or involved in crime we would like to know more about them and then we can do more.