Call to prosecute those who glorify the PIRA not just dissident republicans after 'landmark' criminal case over online posts
The DUP and TUV have wondered if people are now going to be prosecuted for showing support for the PIRA after what police described as a “landmark” court case this week.
They were reacting to the fact a man has now been convicted and sentenced over a dissident republican webpage.
West Belfast man Ciaran Kilifin, 27, currently with an address at Exchange Court in Newtownards, was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday. He must also notify the authorities about his address and travel plans for the next 10 years.
He was involved with a Facebook page called “Republican Activist Coalition”, which was active in 2021 and 2022 but has not been updated since.
It features posts praising PIRA and INLA icons of the past, as well as posts condemning the PSNI and Sinn Fein for “selling out”. One post shows a “New Year statement” from the New IRA.
The page remains online.
The PSNI said that the case against Kilifin is a “landmark” one, because it is the first time in Northern Ireland that a particular part of the Terrorism Act has been used to prosecute someone.
Though the act has existed since 2000, barring things like organising meetings in support of proscribed groups, it was expanded in 2019 to include a new clause.
The new clause says: “A person commits an offence if the person (a) expresses an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation, and (b) in doing so is reckless as to whether a person to whom the expression is directed will be encouraged to support a proscribed organisation.”
It is this new clause that was used to prosecute Kilifin, who pleaded guilty to four counts.
The PSNI said his “posts showed support for proscribed organisations, namely dissident republican terrorist groups” and urged anyone posting online to “take note of the newly-introduced recklessness aspect of this offence”.
However there are countless murals, commemorative events, and online tributes for Troubles-era paramilitaries (republican and loyalist ones), about which nothing is ever done.
DUP justice spokeswoman Joanne Bunting, MLA for East Belfast, said: “The glorification of terrorism is a very real issue in Northern Ireland.
"The law cannot make a distinction between ‘good’ terrorists and ‘bad’ terrorists however and therefore the glorification and celebration of dissident republican terrorists must be no different to that of the Provisional IRA.
"When you celebrate those who murdered police officers in 1975 it offers only encouragement to others in 2025 to engage in the same tactics.
"You cannot draw a moral distinction between the two events because there is no such distinction, and the dissident terrorist gangs know the power of that fact. There was always an alternative to engaging in terrorism and there is always an alternative to the glorification of it.
“The real test is not just in this prosecution in isolation, but what happens going forward. It will require further such prosecutions for a clear message to filter through that such actions do have real-world consequences.”
The TUV said the court case sets “an interesting precedent”, adding that “in light of the well publicised support for terrorism by way of ‘up the Ra’ chants and the involvement of senior Sinn Fein figures in events which openly celebrate and glorify the IRA we will watch with interest how the ramifications play out of this judgement play out in future”.
Comment was sought from Sinn Fein, but none had come at time of writing.
The News Letter asked the PPS and PSNI if this week’s court case means that there will now be prosecutions over PIRA tributes and commemorations.
The PPS said: “When a file is submitted to the PPS by investigators, a prosecutor will consider all the evidence and facts of each case individually and will decide whether the case meets the Test for Prosecution. A prosecutor will also decide the legislation under which cases can be prosecuted. We reach all our decisions independently and in accordance with the PPS Code for Prosecutors.”
The PSNI said: “Each incident or report from a member of the public is treated impartially and on its own merits by the PSNI. If officers suspect an offence has been committed, a full investigation is carried out and all available evidence presented to the PPS.”