Report call over IRA army council

The governments want to know if the IRA army council still exists

The body that monitors paramilitary groups has been asked to produce a special report assessing whether the IRA 'army council' still exists.

The British and Irish governments asked the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) for its views by 1 September.

It is believed the ruling 'army council' has remained intact, despite the decommissioning of weapons.

The DUP has said it must cease to exist if policing and justice powers are to be devolved to the Assembly.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness of Sinn F�in said the report was a matter for the British and Irish governments.

"Our position on the IMC is crystal clear - we believe they have no useful role to play and our position hasn't changed," he said.

'Clarification'

Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward said he had asked for the report to help clarify the "completion of the transformation of PIRA".

"Enormous progress has been made by people across Northern Ireland to deal with outstanding issues from the Troubles. However there are still vestiges of this time for which we need greater clarification," he said.

However, the DUP said confirmation that the 'army council' has been disbanded will not necessarily pave the way for devolved policing and justice.

Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson said further assurances on accountability structures would be needed.

"For policing and justice devolution to occur there has to be sufficient confidence in the unionist community and one of those elements is removing the IRA from the stage.

"This isn't the only factor, there will be others that we need to take into account as well like the structures being put in place for the devolution of policing and justice."

In the past, the IMC has said that the existence of the 'army council' was necessary as part of a change of management process as the IRA moved from violence to politics.

In its last report in May, the commission said "that relinquishing leadership structures appropriate to a time of conflict would be the signal that a paramilitary group had emerged at the other end of the process of transformation".

The IMC said this transformation was "all but complete" in the case of the IRA.

The governments have now asked for a special report to clarify the commission's views on the current structures of the IRA.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version