Former IRA member Kevin McGuigan was killed about two weeks ago by individual members of the IRA, raising concerns the organization was still active, the Guardian reported.
Advertisement
The Irish Justice Minister said that security assessments needed to be kept under review, given the current circumstances.
Meanwhile, a PSNI detective last week linked the organisation with the murder of Kevin McGuigan, which authorities believe could have been a revenge killing after the earlier murder of Gerard “Jock” Davison.
He has been taken to Antrim police station.
“I have asked the Garda Commissioner (Nóirín O’Sullivan) 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”, Ms Fitzgerald said on Tuesday. The organization announced in 2005 it was disbanding all its military structures, which made many think the IRA was no more.
George Hamilton said at the weekend that some of the Provisional IRA’s organisational structure still exists, although not for a paramilitary objective.
The news of the IRA’s current existence in some capacity did not come as a surprise to the government, Northern Ireland Secretary of State Theresa Villiers has said, the BBC reported.
“This is a time for cool heads and measured judgments”, she added. Sinn Fein said there is no basis for the threats.
Earlier today, Ms Villiers had attempted to play down the impact of the row on the Northern peace process.
A member of the Stormont Assembly is echoing comments from the Sinn Fein leader that “the IRA is gone and is not coming back”.
Advertisement
Sinn Féin says the Fianna Fáil leader is trying to use the controversy for political advantage.
