Kevin McGuigan murder: Sinn Féin's Bobby Storey says IRA is 'not coming back'

Bobby Storey (left) - pictured with Gerry Adams - said the IRA had put its arms beyond use and was "not coming back"

A senior Sinn Féin member arrested last week over a murder linked to IRA members has said the organisation has "gone" and is "not coming back".

Bobby Storey was one of three leading republicans questioned and then released without charge over the murder of former IRA man Kevin McGuigan Sr.

And Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness said he was concerned that "state agents" had a role in the killing.

Mr Storey's arrest intensified a political crisis in Northern Ireland.

On Thursday, First Minister Peter Robinson quit the ruling executive along with three other Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) ministers.

Mr McGuigan Sr's murder caused a political row after Northern Ireland's police chief said members of the IRA had been involved.

Butterfly

Last month, Chief Constable George Hamilton said the organisation was still in existence but added that it was committed to politics and is not engaged in terrorism.

Martin McGuinness (right) - pictured with Bobby Storey - said recent murders had caused "huge problems" for Northern Ireland's political institutions

But Mr Storey, Sinn Féin's northern chairman, compared the IRA to a caterpillar that had "become a butterfly" and had "flew away".

"The IRA has gone. The IRA has stood down, they have put their arms beyond use," Mr Storey said.

"They have left the stage, they are away and they're not coming back."

He said the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has "no basis" for arresting him in connection with the murder last month of Mr McGuigan Sr.

"At no time during my detention did the police present a shred of evidence or intelligence, which, in either my opinion or the opinion of my solicitor, warranted my arrest," he said.

Enemies

"We have a lot of questions and we will go to the chief constable for answers."

Those involved in the killing are "criminals and enemies of peace", he added.

Members of the IRA were involved in the murder of Kevin McGuigan Sr, police said

Mr Martin McGuinness said he feared that elements opposed to the peace were involved in Mr McGuigan Sr's murder, and the killing in May of former IRA commander Gerard 'Jock' Davison.

The murders had caused "huge problems" for Northern Ireland's political institutions, the deputy first minister added.

"I think serious questions have to be asked about whose agenda was served by those murders, particularly as we all know that the prospect that agents were involved - people who are hostile to the peace process, who are hostile to Sinn Féin's involvement in the political institutions."

Last month, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) had said Sinn Féin's denial in the wake of Mr McGuigan Sr's murder that the IRA existed had caused a breakdown in trust and it left the executive.

Breakdown

The DUP then resigned its ministerial posts after the party failed to secure enough support for an adjournment of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Mr Storey said unionists had used what he called his "wrongful detention" to threaten the devolved institutions.

Responding to Mr Storey's comments, the DUP's Gregory Campbell said: "Unfortunately for republicans nearly everyone else believes the chief constable rather than Bobby Storey or Gerry Adams.

Mike Nesbitt said Bobby Storey's comments on the status of the IRA were "utterly preposterous"

"Action on what they intend to do about the IRA is what is needed as opposed to this latest idealistic nonsense.

"The murder of two men in recent weeks significantly contradicts the words of people like Bobby Storey."

UUP leader Mike Nesbitt said Mr Storey's claim that the IRA no longer existed was "utterly preposterous".

He added that an "alternative way of addressing" paramilitary activity would have to be discussed.

"That may mean we need an enhanced form of the Independent Monitoring Commission and ensure that the National Crime Agency, in tandem with the PSNI, are focused on tackling and systematically dismantling the IRA crime empire," Mr Nesbitt said.

A fresh round of all-party talks is due to being on Monday.