DUP Leader Peter Robinson has responded to the findings of the most recent Independent Monitoring Commission report. Commenting on the publication of the IMC’s special report on the IRA the DUP leader said, “The DUP has insisted on the complete dismantling of all paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. We have been consistent in our view that there can be no place in society for paramilitary organisations. The publication of this report from the Independent Monitoring Commission highlights the very considerable progress that has been achieved to date. As advocates of the complete ending of the IRA and other terrorist organisations we welcome the findings contained in this latest report and acknowledge the progress on the dismantling of terrorist structures. This is a vindication of our strategy and undoubtedly this has been achieved as a result of our determination to rid Northern Ireland of the terrorist structures that have plagued us for so long.
We have indicated that it was for Republicans to demonstrate a commitment to exclusively peaceful and democratic means by supporting the Police Service of Northern Ireland, giving support to the courts and the rule of law, a complete ending of paramilitary activity and the removal of terrorist structures. The findings of this report confirm that our aim to achieve the end of the IRA is working. We welcome the IMC assessment that on our watch the “so-called military departments have ceased to function and have been disbanded” and that “the organisation’s former terrorist capability has been lost”. Confirmation that the organisation is “being allowed to wither away”, will be something that people across the Province will regard as a welcome advancement.
While the IMC indicates that the Army Council is no longer operational or functional an essential part of building confidence in the community is that the Army Council has moved from a body that is not meeting to one that will never meet again. While it is marked progress that the IRA is no longer “doing business” the Unionist community needs to be convinced by the republican leadership that the IRA is out of business for good.”