Disarmed IRA 'will remain an illegal organisation'

The IRA will not made into a legal organisation until it gets rid of its treasonable constitution, the Justice Minister said today.

Since the IRA announced its intention to disband last month, it has been suggested that it might be turned into an old boys club for former republicans.

But Justice Minister Michael McDowell said that even if the organisation decommissioned, it would still be an offence to be a member.

“The IRA remains an illegal organisation because its constitution is treasonable under the laws of this State,” he said.

He also said that the Government and the head of the Decommissioning Body, General John De Chastelain, could not be certain that the IRA had decommissioned its arsenal which includes assault rifles, heavy machine guns, Semtex explosive and surface-to-air missiles.

“Obviously in one technical sense it is impossible for him, you, me or anybody to know what’s hidden somewhere under a stone in a cave in the middle of some mountain range. We can’t be certain,” he said.

Mr McDowell has been one of the strongest critics of the IRA, and in his interview with RTÉ, he said it was unacceptable that its Army Council claimed to be the legitimate Government of the state.

“As long as an organisation exists with those ends in mind, it remains illegal and it will not be the subject of the revocation of its prescription by the Government as long as its rules and its aims are as they stand at the moment,” he said.

However, he said he did expect the IRA’s acts of decommissioning to take place in the near future.

“I expect it to be one sequence of events and I expect it to be in a fairly rapid order. Obviously I don’t expect it all to be done by one single press of a button or one single act of decommissioning in one single place.”

In recent weeks, many Catholic families in Northern Ireland have been attacked by loyalist paramilitaries and driven out of their houses, reawakening memories of the pogroms of the 1960s.

Mr McDowell said this was not a justification for the IRA remaining in existence as a private army.

He said there was a need for trust to grow between nationalists and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

“You can’t have that if there is an alternative police force lurking behind every door in certain areas in Northern Ireland.”