Uncertainty continues to dog political talks aimed at saving power-sharing in Northern Ireland after a British government statement failed to prompt unionists to sign up to negotiations.

Uncertainty continues to dog political talks aimed at saving power-sharing in the North after a British Government statement failed to prompt unionists to sign up to negotiations.

Sinn Féin has said it is “open” to the potential return of the Independent Monitoring Commission to ensure paramilitary groups no longer exist after Northern Ireland’s secretary of state said this may be the only way to resolve the current crisis.

The North’s politicians have been called into talks next week to resolve the crisis over IRA activity.

Police in the North have said they would support an independent assessment of paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland after IRA members shot a man dead.

A DUP delegation met Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers in Belfast yesterday to discuss the furore sparked by the recent murder of IRA man Kevin McGuigan in the city and a PSNI assessment that Provisional IRA members may have been involved.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has insisted the Provisional IRA no longer exists, even in a “benign” criminal gang form alleged in recent days, and that his party has “no special responsibility” over recent murders 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.

Government ministers have moved to quash suggestions of differences between the gardaí and Police Service of Northern Ireland in their assessments about the existence of the Provisional IRA.

The final report from the Independent Monitoring Commission has found that while paramilitary activity has decreased significantly, the threat against PSNI officers from dissident groups remains.

Hopes of an end to rioting in Belfast were growing today after a night which was free from trouble.

Guns were back on the streets in Belfast tonight after three people were shot during the most serious rioting in the North for years.

A major riot that saw police come under gun attack by loyalists in the North is being blamed on the Ulster Volunteer Force, despite the paramilitary group being on ceasefire.

Loyalist paramilitaries supposed to be on ceasefire organised major rioting in Belfast and opened fire on police, a senior officer has revealed.

THE reported wreath-laying ceremony by Queen Elizabeth at the Irish War Memorial Gardens at Islandbridge taking place on May 17, the 37th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, is a further insult to those who lost their lives at the hands of loyalist murder gangs.

The watchdog commissions that oversaw the winding-down of paramilitary groups in the North have been dissolved.

A watchdog set up to monitor paramilitary ceasefires in the North has presented its final report to the authorities.

DISSIDENT republicans have detonated four times as many explosives in the last six months, compared to the previous six months.

Members of a major loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland are considering buying guns only months after they were supposed to have disarmed, it emerged today.

A watchdog set-up by the Irish and British governments to monitor paramilitary violence in Northern Ireland is to be shut down, it was announced today.

Northern Ireland's First Minister has said the raising of the threat level to Britain from dissident republicans is "worrying".

Dissident republican groups remain small and isolated organisations, but experts warn they are growing in size and expertise.

A BRITISH government watchdog that blamed the leadership of the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) for a killing in Northern Ireland has been criticised for failing to order sanctions against the group.

The leadership of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) was behind a brutal murder in the North despite being on ceasefire, the watchdog Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) ruled today.

The Independent Monitoring Commission is to issue a report on the death of leading loyalist Bobby Moffatt, it was announced today.

A ROW broke out during Enda Kenny’s visit to the North after the Fine Gael leader said Sinn Féin has not completed its “journey to democratic politics”.

Dissident republican groups opposed to the North's peace process are a dangerous threat, but have no support for their actions, a watchdog said today.

The latest report from the Independent Monitoring Commission will describe the threat posed by dissident republicans as "significant and severe", according to Justice Minister Dermot Ahern.

Detectives were continuing to question two men today over the discovery of a suspected major dissident republican bomb-making operation in Co Louth.

DISSIDENT republicans pose a severe threat and, while their numbers remain small, their capabilities are growing, Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has warned.

Lives were saved by the discovery of a suspected major dissident republican bomb-making operation in Co Louth, Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said today.

Further political progress in the North could undermine violent groups which have stepped up efforts to wreck the peace process, it was claimed today.

Dissident republicans in the North are working more closely together to heighten their violent threat to the political process, it was revealed today.

The peace process in the North is not unravelling despite dissident republican efforts to drag the region back to violence, a ceasefire watchdog body said today.

THE Government’s promise of a talks forum to resolve bitter disputes over the controversial Corrib gas project descended into chaos yesterday.

The Government’s promise of a talks forum to resolve bitter disputes over the controversial Corrib gas project descended into chaos today.

The UDA has issued a belligerent statement to mark Remembrance Day in the North, threatening to take action if nationalists threaten its "British-ness".

The devolution of policing and justice powers from Westminster to Stormont could help combat crime, a watchdog monitoring paramilitary violence said today.

GARDAÍ have gone north of the border and conducted “door-to-door” inquiries as part of the investigation into the savage murder of south Armagh man Paul Quinn in Monaghan last October.

Former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Ian Paisley clashed with former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern today over the devolution of policing and justice powers to Stormont.

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today that unionist demands for disbandment of the IRA’s ruling Army Council was not part of the deal which set up the North’s power-sharing government.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Peter Robinson has held talks with loyalist paramilitary groups to secure their full support for peace, it was revealed tonight.

Unionist demands for further proof that the IRA is gone for good may not be answered, Northern Ireland’s police chief signalled today.