PSNI and British minister disagree over IRA criminality

A senior PSNI officer has contradicted claims by a British minister in the North that the IRA is no longer involved in criminality.

Northern Ireland Office minister Shaun Woodward has said on several occasions over the past month that he believes the republican movement has ended its criminal activities.

He is understood to have repeated that belief at a private meeting of the Policing Board in Belfast last night, but an assistant chief constable with the PSNI told the same meeting that the IRA and all other paramilitary groups were still involved in organised crime.

The comment was made by Sam Kinkaid, the head of the PSNI's crime division and one of chief constable Hugh Orde's most trusted officers.

The divergence between the PSNI and the British government could cause major setbacks for the peace process, which is still in suspension while all sides assess whether the IRA is honouring its promise to end criminality.

Unionists are already calling for Mr Woodward to resign, but Sinn Féin has accused Mr Kinkaid of making his comments as part of a campaign by the "RUC old guard" to undermine progress on restoring devolution.