Statement by the Minister for Justice and Equality on PIRA – new Garda assessment sought

We should not forget the troubled history of this island, the countless lives lost, many at the brutal hands of the Provisional IRA.

Words matter in Northern Ireland. Whatever the immediate political pressures, I know that as Justice Minister whatever assessments I make can have profound implications and could affect what the parties in the North do. This is a time for cool heads and measured judgements. I will be working closely with Charlie Flanagan and Theresa Villiers in making those judgements in the light of any evidence that emerges and we will be meeting next week.

I support the call by Theresa Villiers that the parties in the North should get on with their work and allow the PSNI investigation into the killing of Mr McGuigan to proceed.

Recent developments are of considerable concern but what we need to do now is establish all the current facts and that is what is happening in the rigorous investigation being carried out by the PSNI.

I have asked the Garda Commissioner to liaise closely with the PSNI and carry out a fresh assessment of the status of PIRA in the light of any new evidence emerging during the PSNI investigation into the death of Mr McGuigan.

I want to be clear about one thing even if it is stating the obvious. PIRA was an abhorrent organisation and the fact that people feel free to engage in serious crime even to the extent of killing people is its inevitable legacy. My party needs no lectures from anyone on what PIRA and Sinn Fein represented. Nor, in fairness, do the Garda Siochana many of whose members paid the ultimate price because of their activities.

As was clear from what the Chief Constable said at the weekend there are no simplistic answers about the continued existence of PIRA. To simply say PIRA continues to exist as if nothing has changed would be quite wrong. To be blunt, making organisational judgements is complicated by the fact that many, if not all, members of PIRA were members of Sinn Fein.

The information available to me is consistent with the reports of the Independent Monitoring Commission.

These said PIRA remained on an exclusively political path, the so-called ‘military’ departments had been disbanded and the former terrorist capability had been lost, the organisation was not involved in illegal activity, although contrary to instructions and for personal gain some individual members were.

This mirrors what the Garda Siochana have said about PIRA in this jurisdiction and reflects what the Chief Constable said on Saturday. The Chief Constable said that in an organisational sense PIRA does not exist for paramilitary purposes; while some of its infrastructure continues to exist it has undergone significant change with structures changed and some dissolved completely; they have no information to suggest that violence, as seen in the murder of Kevin McGuigan was sanctioned or directed at a senior level in the republican movement; some current Provisional IRA and former members continue to engage in a range of criminal activity and occasional violence in the interest of personal gain or personal agendas; and the Provisional IRA hierarchy has enabled moving the organisation forward within he peace process.

But those assessments have to be kept under review in the light of the emergence of any evidence in the current PSNI investigation. And that is why I have asked the Garda Síochána to carry out a fresh assessment in relation to PIRA in the light of the progress of that investigation. And one of the issues which will be taken into account is what the PSNI have been learning about any PIRA structures as a result of that investigation.

And we should remember too that we maintain in our laws – and enforce robustly – the strictest possible measures to deal with any manifestations of the IRA.

There is no doubt that people who have been associated with PIRA have been – and continue to be – involved in the most serious crime and neither Gerry Adams nor Sinn Fein can wash their hands of responsibility for that. It is an inevitable legacy of the brutal campaign which PIRA waged.

And it is fair to ask Sinn Fein how they intend to address a legacy they are responsible for. It is a legacy of evasion which was bound to have people suspect a ballot box in one hand and sleight of hand with the other. Will Gerry Adams apologise for the dreadful legacy of crime and lawlessness left in the wake of the brutal campaign which PIRA waged and say what steps he takes to ensure there is no place in Sinn Fein for people who engage in serious crime? What steps does Sinn Fein take to ensure that they do not benefit in any way from the proceeds of crime? Will he apologise for the fact that people who PIRA trained to kill may be continuing to do so in whatever capacity? And will he explain what parts of smuggling and money laundering ever honoured the legacy of 1916 which his party wish to hijack?

This is a time for calm, measured judgements. It is not a time for any of us to change the contempt we have held for what the Provisional movement stood for down through the years.