Sinn Féin rejects report on paramilitary activity

THE latest report on paramilitary activity in the North which said the IRA showed no sign of winding down was yesterday rejected by Sinn Féin as “of little interest.”

However, the four-member Independent Monitoring Commission, which assesses republican and loyalist paramilitary activity, told the British and Irish Governments the number of so-called punishment attacks by the Provisionals had decreased.

The commission noted that in the South, the organisation appeared to have closed down some of its organised crime activity and there was no real evidence of violent paramilitary activity on the ground.

But loyalist paramilitaries, such as the Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Volunteer Force, showed a greater capacity for violence, with involvement in murders in the period between March and September, it said.

With the Rev Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists demanding an end to all paramilitary activity by the Provisionals if Sinn Féin is to join them in a future power-sharing government at Stormont, the IMC said: “Over the period covered by this report, so far as Northern Ireland is concerned, we saw no signs of the PIRA winding down its capability. It continued to recruit, though in small numbers, and to gather intelligence.”

The IMC noted the Provisional IRA had carried out no murders over the period and had engaged in a lower level of so-called punishment attacks and shootings.

The report also showed that paramilitary gangs remained involved in the drugs trade, robberies and the black market.

Sinn Féin policing and justice spokesman, Gerry Kelly said the report was based on information provided by military intelligence and the Special Branch. “All of these organisations are opposed to the peace process and opposed to the Good Friday Agreement,” the North Belfast MLA said. “Previous reports have already been exposed as riddled with inaccuracies. Given these facts, the IMC has no credibility within the broad nationalist and republican community and the contents of this latest report are of little interest to it.”

Publishing the report simultaneously with Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy, Justice Minister Michael McDowell warned there was clearly much work still to be done.

He said: “While there are positive aspects to the report, in terms of the scaling back of some paramilitary activity, it nevertheless underlines the imperative to bring all forms of paramilitary activity to an end.”

Nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan welcomed the report but said there was no acceptable level of paramilitary activity.

“The IMC has again underscored the ongoing scale and nature of ongoing loyalist paramilitary activity. The rank criminality of these groups should not be glossed over by parties or by government.”