The United Kingdom’s  intelligence service MI5 has raised the terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland’ to “severe.”

This reportedly comes amid an uptick in activity by dissident Irish republican militants.

“Severe” is the second-highest level on a five-point scale and indicates that an attack is considered highly likely.

The threat level had stood one rung lower at “substantial” for the past year.

Paramilitary groups laid down their arms after the 1998 Good Friday peace accord largely quelled three decades of violent conflict in Northern Ireland.

But small Irish Republican Army splinter groups have continued to launch occasional attacks.

Last month, senior police officer John Caldwell was shot by two masked men as he was coaching a children’s soccer team in the town of Omagh.