Statement by TUV vice-chair Richard Cairns:
“The admission of Edwin Poots this morning that Sinn Fein and the IRA are “largely the same thing” highlights the deep immorality of the DUP’s decision to resume business as usual yesterday.
“In 2007 the DUP claimed that they would only enter government with Sinn Fein/IRA once “all paramilitary and criminal activity and terrorist structures” had been abandoned. However, yesterday’s report forced everyone to face the reality that not only does the IRA continue to exist and retain weapons but that its Army Council “oversees both the PIRA and Sinn Fein with an overarching strategy”.
“For years the DUP have claimed that they forced Republicans to change. They claimed they forced them to decommission all their weapons. They claimed they forced Republicans to abandon criminality. All of window dressing has now, however, be torn aside.
“When the DUP agreed to devolving policing and justice powers to Northern Ireland they brought those powers into an Executive which contained a party which was controlled by the IRA Army Council.
“Thanks to yesterday’s report we now have it officially confirmed that the IRA retain weapons, an Army Council and departments with specific responsibilities. We also have it on the record that the IRA is still engaged in intelligence gathering, large scale smuggling and murder.
“Yet this is the organisation which, according to Mr Poots, is “largely the same thing” as his partners in government!
“The message sent by the DUP yesterday by resuming power sharing with Sinn Fein/IRA hours after such a damming report was published could not have been clearer – the IRA can do whatever it wants without fear of political consequences.
“The comments of Mr Poots this morning merely underscored this reality.”
Note to editors
Edwin Poots’s comments this morning where:
“I never ever lived in some sort of cocoon where I saw Sinn Fein as being one organisation and the IRA as something wholly different.”
And:
“Sinn Fein and the IRA, we believe are largely the same thing. You always get very excited telling people not to call people Sinn Fein/IRA. We believe that the same DNA runs through those organisations.”
Edwin Poots, Nolan Show 21st October 2015