Sinn Féin open to return of monitoring

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.

Party president Gerry Adams and Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister Martin McGuinness opened up the possibility of the move being agreed to after crunch talks next week during the group’s annual think-in event in Co Meath yesterday.

Speaking to reporters before the day-long meeting was closed off to the media, the senior Sinn Féin officials said they believe the prospect of the IMC’s return may be necessary to calm the crisis in the North over the recent murders of Gerard ‘Jock’ Davison and Kevin McGuigan, whose murderers Mr McGuinness called “low life criminals”.