Issue of criminality must be resolved, says Murphy

A fully inclusive Executive in Northern Ireland cannot be established until the issue of criminality has been resolved, Secretary of State Paul Murphy has said today.

Mr Murphy was speaking during Wednesday’s Northern Ireland Questions in the House of Commons, the first since the Northern Bank robbery.

Expressing deep regret that progress towards the re-establishment of devolved government has been put in jeopardy by the raid, Mr Murphy said he could not forecast when it would prove possible to re-establish an inclusive power-sharing executive.

However, the Secretary of State confirmed that the Government is continuing to talk with the parties for their assessment of the current position and stressed that criminality must come to an end.

“In order for the Executive to be formed, there has to be trust amongst the political parties. Unless we tackle the issue of criminality, we will not get the trust between the parties,” he said.

On Monday, Mr Murphy and Irish foreign minister Dermot Ahern said they were 100% convinced that the IRA was involved in the robbery. Both men met in Dublin to discuss the impact of the £26.5 million raid.

Mr Murphy said the prospect of power-sharing has been dealt "a very serious blow" by the raid while Mr Ahern said “evasion and denial” by republicans was increasing the gulf of mistrust in the political process.

Earlier this month the Northern Bank confirmed it is to withdraw all of its paper note currency estimated to have a face value of around £300 million.

The move, which will cost the bank £5 million, will see all existing £10, £20, £50 and £100 notes replaced, however the bank's polymer £5 notes will not be affected.

Following last month’s raid, PSNI Chief Constable, Hugh Orde said that it was his opinion the IRA was behind the robbery.

(MB)