Irish police to carry out fresh assessment of Provisional IRA

Irish Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has called for a fresh assessment of the Provisional IRA

Police in the Republic of Ireland are to carry out a fresh assessment of the Provisional IRA.

Irish Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald made the call following a political row over the murder of Kevin McGuigan Snr in Belfast.

Ms Fitzgerald said there were "no simplistic answers" about the continued existence of the IRA.

Information available to her suggested that it remained on an "exclusively political path", she said.

The minister said that, given the current police investigation into the murder of Mr McGuigan in Northern Ireland, the Garda Síochána would carry out a fresh assessment.

"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 Féin 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 Féin how they intend to address a legacy they are responsible for."

However, Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley said Ms Fitzgerald had "abused her position to make smears of illegality" about his party.

"Sinn Féin does not benefit from any form of criminality," he added.

In her statement, Ms Fitzgerald said it was "a time for cool heads and measured judgements".

She said PIRA was "an abhorrent organisation" that left a "dreadful legacy of crime and lawlessness" in the wake of "a brutal campaign".

'Not surprised'

Her decision to call for a re-assessment, follows the comment by Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers that the government was not surprised by a police belief that PIRA still exists.

Ms Villiers said remarks by the chief constable, George Hamilton, that an infrastructure exists at a senior level of the Provisional IRA, but that it is not on a "war footing", "didn't come as a surprise" to her.

Deputy Prime Minister (Tánaiste) Joan Burton, leader of the Labour Party, the minority party in the coalition government, said it was clear that communities continued to be at risk from an organisation linked to "murder and racketeering".

She said Sinn Féin could not deny all knowledge of IRA criminality or its existence.

"While I accept the assessments of the PSNI and the Garda that the Provisional IRA is no longer involved in terrorist activity, that is of little comfort given that members of the organisation are clearly involved in serious criminality, " she said.

In response, Mr Stanley said Ms Burton "should deal with real issues facing people like water charges rather than talking about an organisation that doesn't exist and using it to attack her political opponents".

Micheál Martin, the leader of the Republic of Ireland's main opposition party, Fianna Fáil, has called for urgent bilateral talks between the British and Irish governments, saying the ongoing political crisis needs leadership.