On Friday, September 27, in a written communication to the Army leadership, the (Real) IRA unit in Portlaoise prison took the unprecedented step of calling the Army Council to stand down with ignominy.

We will not demean our struggle or provide succour to our enemies by revealing the comprehensive catalogue of evidence which has exposed this leadership.

However, we do feel duty-bound to state that this Army leadership's financial motivations far outweigh their political commitment to our struggle at this time.

We feel we are left with no option but to withdraw our allegiance from this Army leadership

IRA prisoners find this morally and politically unacceptable. We believe that the current Army leadership has forfeited all moral authority to lead the (Real) IRA.

To date, the leadership has failed to respond to our demand. Thus we feel we are left with no option but to withdraw our allegiance from this Army leadership.

We would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to Republican principles and reiterate our steadfast opposition to the Belfast Agreement and British rule in Ireland.

Furthermore, in order to dispel recent, mischievous leaks to the media, we would like to state that no IRA prisoners' representative has entered negotiations with any government regarding the early release of political prisoners.