DUP furious over reinstatement of SF Westminister grants

DUP leader Ian Paisley has reacted furiously to the British government's decision to reinstate all Sinn Féin Assembly and Westminster grants following the latest IMC report.

Ian Paisley said the decision was outrageous and demeaned parliamentary politics as none of the IRA's proceeds of crime, which he claimed included cigarette robberies, supermarket theft and the Northern Bank raid, had been recovered.

Sinn Féin should not receive one penny of tax payers money, he said.

The Sinn Fein MP for Newry Armagh Conor Murphy said, however, that the IMC had never had any legal right to recommend financial penalties.

The IRA, he said, had fulfilled all its commitments, addressed Unionist concerns and removed any further concerns for refusing to negotiate.