Minister Orders 'Fresh Assessment' Of PIRA

The Irish Minister for Justice and Equality has ordered gardai to conduct a "fresh assessment" of the Provisional IRA.

Ms Frances Fitzgerald made the call following a PSNI investigation into the murder of Kevin McGuigan.

Ms Fitzgerald said: "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."

Ms Fitzgerald also said there are "no simplistic answers" about the continued existences of the PIRA.

She continued: "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?"

(CD)