Warning to republicans after IRA linked to bank raid

The British government will only promote a political settlement for the North in which the IRA gives up terrorism and all forms of criminality, republicans were warned today.

In his first House of Commons statement since last month’s £26.5m (€37.8m) Northern Bank raid in Belfast was blamed on the Provisionals, Secretary of State Paul Murphy said Sinn Féin and the IRA had to respond to this demand.

In a frank assessment of the damage the robbery had inflicted on efforts to revive Northern Ireland’s Assembly, Mr Murphy told MPs: “I cannot forecast with certainty when it will prove possible to re-establish an inclusive power-sharing executive, which the government continues to believe provides the best long-term guarantee of peace and stability.

“We shall not abandon our commitment to that ultimate goal. But we are in no doubt that it can only be achieved if the Provisional IRA not only gives up terrorism but also all the other forms of criminality in which it is implicated.

“Unionists in Northern Ireland have made clear that if those tests are met, they will work with Sinn Féin in a power-sharing executive.”