Time for all paramilitarism to end, says Ritchie

The time has come for all paramilitarism in the North to end, Stormont minister Margaret Ritchie insisted today.

The nationalist SDLP Social Development Minister, who recently axed a £1.2m loyalist community regeneration fund because of continued violence by the Ulster Defence Association, told her party conference the biggest problems facing many neighbourhoods were anti-social behaviour, crime and paramilitarism.

“In some respects, in terms of the peace process, this is the last piece of the jigsaw,” the South Down Assembly member told the conference in Armagh.

“That is why I have taken a firm stand in relation to the funding of projects linked to paramilitary groups.

“It is simply time to move beyond the paramilitary era.

“Paramilitarism is the one force that is stopping people from developing their own communities and building the confidence they need to have a better social and economic future.

“We must all join together to rid our communities of the scourge of paramilitarism.”