Paramilitarism continues in Stormont vacuum
A TERROR gang watchdog has expressed frustration at the lack of progress in tackling the activities of paramilitaries in Northern Ireland.
Ministers have not been at their desks at Stormont since early last year and in the meantime crime lords have been behind a catalogue of attacks, racketeering and intimidation.
Paramilitarism has affected almost half of Northern Ireland’s communities and more work needs to be done to disrupt gangs which retain influence 20 years after the conflict largely ended, the Independent Reporting Commission (IRC) concluded.
Established by the British and Irish governments following con- cerns about lingering paramilitarism, the body said the lack of ministers has had an impact.
Member and former US envoy to Northern Ireland, Mitchell Reiss, said: “It has been a little frustrating to see that more progress on ending paramilitarism has not been made.
“It has now been 20 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
“All of us hoped that this scourge on these communities would have gone away by now.”
The report said paramilitary incidents recently occurred in 218 local council wards out of 462. Nine of the 10 most de- prived wards showed at least one indicator of paramilitary activity, which can range from assaults to wall murals which glorify the role of the gunmen.
The report said: “Some 20 years after the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, paramilitarism remains a stark reality of life in Northern Ireland.”
Mr Reiss added: “Without that certainty, without that leadership, without having truly functioning governance structures in place here, the goal to end paramilitarism is going to lag.”
The problem includes gangsterism and criminality, with some using labels from the conflict as a cloak for their criminal activity. It also includes those who are members of these groups for political or personal reasons but are not actively engaged in criminal activity, the review said.
The report continued that up to £12m in official funding has been provided to support parts of Belfast and elsewhere which are vulnerable to the influence of paramilitaries.
A separate taskforce, established a year ago, combines law enforcement agencies to target organised crime and has recorded a number of successes.
Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley said: “Paramilita-
rism is a scourge on our society. It was never justified in the past, it cannot be justified today and these groups should have no place in our society.”
Assistant Chief Constable Barbara Gray said that up to the end of August 2018, the Paramilitary Crime Task Force (PCTF) had carried out 376 searches, made 161 arrests and secured 124 disposals against paramilitary groups assessed as not presenting a threat to national security.
“The Task Force has recovered significant quantities of criminal property/proceeds of crime including cash, property, vehicles, illicit drugs and contraband cigarettes,” she said. “This amounts to over £1.3m of revenue loss prevented, over 150 firearms and weapons taken off the streets (guns, imitation guns and offensive weapons), just under £800,000 in cash seized or restrained and drugs with a street value around £300,000 being seized.”
One person received a threeyear jail sentence for membership of a proscribed organisation.
Ms Gray added that since November 1, 2017, the PSNI’s Terrorism Investigation Unit and PCTF have carried out a combined 308 searches, 129 arrests and have charged or reported 103 people.