North Antrim Ulster Unionist MLA Robin Swann has called on Sinn Fein’s Daithi McKay to accept all Police assessments on groups involved in paramilitary and criminal activity and not to be selective.
Mr Swann said;
“Mr McKay claims that Police have told him at a meeting that the UDA was behind two pipe bombs found in Ahoghill last week.
“I find it curious that Mr McKay is prepared to accept a Police assessment in relation to loyalist paramilitary activity, yet Sinn Fein is not prepared to accept a Police assessment in relation to the existence of the IRA.
“The difference between the Ulster Unionist Party and Sinn Fein is that we are not in denial about the existence of these groups. We accept Police assessments on criminal and paramilitary activity regardless of what political standpoint those groups may claim to come from.
“The Ulster Unionist Party has no hesitation in condemning all forms of paramilitary activity and any group involved in criminality or violence, including those responsible for the Ahoghill pipe bombs. Given his new found confidence in Police assessments, I call on Mr McKay and his Sinn Fein colleagues to condemn the IRA with regard to its ongoing existence and criminal activity.”