UDA Condemned For Failure To Leave Terror Behind

The main loyalist paramilitary organisation, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) has been condemned for still being involved in violence and criminality.

The Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) has just published its latest report which says that while the paramilitary group's leaders are trying to discourage involvement in crime, they are only having limited success.

The four member of the IMC believe the mainstream UDA was involved in recent clashes with a breakaway faction in Carrickfergus and was responsible for the shooting of a police officer during the disturbances.

UDA members were also involved in serious rioting in August in the Kilcooley estate in Bangor, Co Down, and a petrol bomb attack on premises occupied by Polish people in Ballymena, as well as drug-dealing, loan sharking and the sale of counterfeit goods.

Meanwhile, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is said to have embarked on a strategy to transform itself from a paramilitary to a civilianised organisation.

The Independent Monitoring Commission say there is no evidence of terrorist activity by that loyalist group since it announced in May it was putting its weapons beyond reach.

However, it suggests the UVF still has some way to go before it achieves its goal of a complete change to a non-paramilitary organisation.

Meanwhile, although the IMC report doesn't take into account last month's horrific killing of Cullyhanna man Paul Quinn, widely blamed on IRA members in South Armagh - as the period of the report doesn't extend to that date - Secretary of State, Shaun Woodward welcomed news that the IRA remains largely to have honoured commitments to leave paramilitary activities behind.

“Today’s report by the IMC builds on previous assessments that the Provisional IRA is fully committed to pursuing the political path and that it will not be diverted from it,” he commented.

“In contrast, within loyalism, the pace of real change remains too slow.

“Loyalism cannot be allowed to lag behind. I recognise that there are signs within the loyalist leadership that they want to bring their communities out of conflict.

“However the scenes of street violence in Carrickfergus and Bangor were a stark reminder of Northern Ireland’s troubled past. The UDA leadership must re-double its efforts if we are to see an end to violence and criminality.

“I welcome the IMC’s assessment of the UVF’s statement in May which they say represents ‘a major turning point’ for the organisation. I acknowledge the positive statement by the UVF to abandon violence and criminality.

“But loyalists need to do more to convince society of their bona fides.

“As the report makes clear, decommissioning is the test by which any paramilitary organisation must ultimately expect to be judged. As with the Provisional IRA, ultimately loyalists will be judged by what they do, not by what they say."

The Secretary of State also said that dissident republican groups still pose a threat, but promised they will not succeed in destabilising the political institutions.

He said: “Three paramilitary murders were reported, the first since February 2006. All three have been attributed to dissidents. These groups are ruthless and dangerous, and their intent to cause harm and destruction is undiminished, but they will not deter us from achieving long-term political stability.”

(BMcC)