Parties agree to disbanding paramilitary groups in the North

Parties in the North have agreed to work on disbanding all paramilitary groups, their structures, and to challenge their control of communities, as part of a deal to salvage Northern Ireland’s crisis-hit power-sharing administration.

The deal — endorsed by Sinn Féin, the Democratic Unionists, and the Irish and British governments — was struck after almost 10 weeks of negotiations.

A range of disputes, including the fallout from a murder linked to the IRA and an acute budgetary crisis over non-implementation of welfare reforms, had pushed the coalition executive towards collapse.