Ministers move to calm fears over IRA

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.

Their moves came amid fallout from the murder of Kevin McGuigan in Belfast which PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton said bore evidence of involvement by Provisional IRA members.

Earlier this year, Nóirín O’Sullivan, the Garda commissioner, said there was no evidence the Provisional IRA remained active — a statement heavily publicised by Sinn Féin.

Defence Minister Simon Coveney stressed there was no significant difference between the two police forces, saying both believed the organisation no longer existed for terrorist or paramilitary purposes — as stated in the final report of the Independent Monitoring Commission in 2011.

“In a practical sense, the monitoring commission, the PSNI and the Garda Síochána are all saying the same thing in terms of the existence of the IRA as a terrorist organisation — that it has been disbanded or it has gone away,” he said.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald echoed that view: “The truth is they do not exist as a terrorist organisation, as a military organisation. In the South and in the North they are a proscribed organisation so if there was any evidence they would be prosecuted, they would be investigated.”

The PSNI assessment has potential to cause a crisis in the North with Unionists threatening to have Sinn Féin expelled from the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Sinn Féin responded by accusing unionists of using Mr McGuigan’s murder in a “sham fight” to frustrate progress in government.

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan avoided being pulled into the row, saying only that he expected to discuss the matter directly with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiars soon.

“It is essential that the PSNI be allowed continue its work, without undue political pressure and with the support of the entire community, so that those responsible are brought to justice,” he said over the weekend.

Mr Coveney yesterday backed that view. “The Government is very cautious here not to add to an already difficult situation,” he said.

He said the key message to take from the chief constable was that the Provisional IRA as an organisation for terrorist or paramilitary purposes was no longer in existence.

However, he acknowledged Mr Hamilton’s assertion that some parts of the Provisional IRA network remained and some were involved in crime. “The part of the statement that’s of real concern is when he says that some current Provisional IRA or former members continue to engage in a range of criminal activity and occasional violence in the interests of personal gain or personal agenda,” he said.

“We want the PSNI to be free to conclude their investigation and if there are serious questions to answer at the end of that investigation, well then we’ll obviously want to hear them.”