Fifth report on paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland to be published on Wednesday

The Independent Reporting Commission (IRC) was established in 2017 following political fall out over the murder of Kevin McGuigan in 2015, which police said at the time was carried out by members of the Provisional IRA.

The IRC has faced criticism for failing to mention, in its four reports to date, specific terrorist groupings by name or providing an assessment of their capabilities.

As stated by the UK Government, the IRC’s key functions “are to report on progress towards ending paramilitary activity and on the implementation of the relevant measures of the UK Government, the Government of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Executive”.

The four IRC commissioners are John McBurney, Monica McWillams, Tim O’Connor and Mitchell Reiss.

Following the publication of the fourth report last December, News Letter columnist Owen Polley said it “provided little new insight specifically into the malign influence of paramilitaries on communities”.

He added: “Like the other three, it was a masterwork of evasion and prevarication.”

A News Letter editorial in December 2021 stated: “Last year it was BBC Spotlight that uncovered a joint PSNI and MI5 assessment of the IRA, which found that the terror group’s Army Council is still in existence, not the IRC.

“In recent reports the IRC has spoken on matters including Brexit, deprivation and the lack of devolution. This is not what Northern Ireland needs.

“We need assessments of named terror groups: of their capabilities and the extent of their criminality.”

It is not yet known if Wednesday’s report will address any of the previously expressed concerns.

Ahead of the report’s publication, TUV leader Jim Allister said: “It is worth winding the clock back to when the IRC was set up and considering the reasons for its formation. It was formed in 2015 after a paramilitary assessment by the government in the aftermath of the Provisional IRA murder of Kevin McGuigan which stated that the PIRA:

“Retained an ‘Army Council’ which members believed oversaw both the PIRA and Sinn Fein with an overarching strategy;

“Retained “departments” with specific responsibilities and

“Still had weapons which had not been decommissioned.

"The test for the credibility of the IRC is whether they manage to address these issues. On previous form when they failed to mention a single paramilitary group in their reports one holds out little hope but we will see.”

Addressing some of the criticisms raised following the 2021 report, the IRC it “has no operational role and does not make detailed security or threat or status assessments of the various paramilitary groups,” and added: “The more important point is the one made about the very real risk that the continuing existence of paramilitaries presents to our society.

"The IRC remains deeply worried about the risks posed to society by the continuing existence of paramilitary structures – regardless of whether they are republican or loyalist paramilitary groups – which can be harnessed for the purposes of violence or the threat of violence.”