Govts briefed on IRA Army Council status

The Irish and British governments were today handed a security assessment on the IRA’s ruling Army Council.

The Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) confirmed it had completed its report on IRA structures.

The watchdog’s findings will be made public on Wednesday.

The IMC report on the IRA comes as the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin are deadlocked over the future of the North's power-sharing government.

Sinn Féin is demanding the transfer of policing and justice powers to Stormont, but up to now the DUP has argued that the public would not support the move.

The DUP has also said political progress is being blocked by the continued existence of the IRA Army Council, despite the fact that the republican movement has decommissioned its weapons.