“PSNI will continue to build on our work with the Organised Crime Taskforce, An Garda Siochana (Irish police) and our other partner agencies to tackle organised criminality”.
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Northern Ireland’s Chief Constable had linked members of the terror group to the murder of their former comrade, Kevin McGuigan.
Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt described Ms Villiers statement as a “positive step forward” and said he would speak to his party executive on Friday afternoon to “reflect where we go from here”.
The political institutions were plunged into crisis in the wake of the shooting, with unionists withdrawing from the power-sharing Executive. The UUP in particular have said that their involvement in cross party talks to resolve the situation hinges upon an investigation into the continued existence of the republican paramilitary group.
“The PSNI will provide full co-operation and support to all the measures that have been outlined.”
“On the basis of the Secretary of State’s statement today we will be participating in the Talks on Monday”.
The government has announced the creation of an independent ceasefire monitoring system to evaluate whether or not the IRA and other paramilitary organisations still exist, in an attempt to reboot Northern Ireland’s devolved government.
Mr Robinson added: “I want to see good, effective government in Northern Ireland”.
She said “recent events” had highlighted the “continuing impact and legacy of paramilitary organisations” and it needed to be addressed. This too needs to be tackled as a matter of urgency.
“We will enter the talks on Monday seeking clarification on whether there is the collective political will to grasp this one-off opportunity to rid Northern Ireland, and indeed the whole island, of the scourge of organised crime”.
And the work of the United Kingdom security agencies and PSNI will be “independently reviewed and checked by three individuals”, the Secretary of State is to appoint to the body being dubbed “son of IMC”.
“Sinn Féin must live up to the responsibility that comes with the mandate they love telling us about and start using it to actually deliver for people… equally the DUP must end their strategy of brinkmanship”, she said.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) became operational in Northern Ireland in May. I pay tribute to all those organisations for the outstanding work they do in protecting the community.
Both the Republican and Unionist parties consider the encouragement and manipulation of these divisions essential in facilitating the intensification of their assault on workers and opening up Northern Ireland to global investors.
Ms Villiers also announced that she is to establish a fund to tackle organised crime associated with paramilitary groups.
The Secretary of State added: “It will support agencies to enhance specialist capabilities such as forensic accounting to strengthen their capacity to seize criminal assets”.
Talks with the administrations in Belfast and Dublin on how best to tackle cross-border crime such as fuel laundering and smuggling will also be established.
“There is already in place a high level of co-operation to deal with the cross-border aspects of such crime”.
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“We are committed to working in partnership to robustly tackle the activities of organized criminals who inflict such damage on our communities”.
