Ulster Unionist Leader, Mike Nesbitt MLA, has stated that the panel report into paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland exposes Sinn Fein and means that they have some very serious explaining to do.
Mr Nesbitt said:
“We welcome the publication of this report because we were the party that forced the panel into existence. The position of the Ulster Unionist Party has been entirely vindicated. The report has highlighted in the starkest terms the issue for Sinn Fein. How can they continue to deny the IRA doesn`t exist when this report makes clear Sinn Fein are being overseen by the IRA`s Army Council.
“This blows a hole in Sinn Fein`s argument. They demand we respect their political mandate, but they now need to make clear the extent to which that mandate is shaped by a group of unnamed shadowy figures who in the past have overseen the most lethal terrorist force on the planet.
“We note the panel concur exactly with our assessment of the triple evil of the continued presence of paramilitary organisations, which is; the control they exercise over communities, the impact of criminality and organised crime on the economy, and the damage to our international reputation. We still see the opportunity to rid the country and this island once and for all of all paramilitary and associated criminal activity, but for now it`s over to Sinn Fein, who have some very serious explaining to do, starting with how they are going to accept reality regarding the IRA.”