A crunch meeting where senior members of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) will vote on whether to walk away from Northern Ireland’s powersharing government over claims the Provisional IRA (PIRA) still exists has begun in Belfast.

Cormac O’Keeffe writes that amid the heat and noise of the last week, trying to determine if — and to what extent — the IRA continues to exist has been like trying to grab a wet bar of soap.

There is no basis for the charges made against Sinn Féin by our political opponents and if this descends into crisis it is a direct result of their stupidity and opportunism, says Gerry Adams.

The gardaí’s “fresh assessment” of the Provisional IRA will depend entirely on what the PSNI investigation into the murder of former paramilitary Kevin McGuigan reveals, it has emerged.

Sinn Féin has vehemently denied the IRA was involved in the Belfast murder last week of father-of-nine Kevin McGuigan.