Jon Burrows rejects PSNI chief's claim that Provisional IRA isn't 'seeking to bring harm to society'
Jon Burrows has questioned comments by the PSNI chief constable in which he said members of the Provisional IRA are not seeking to harm society – saying the organisation represents “a latent threat to the people of Northern Ireland”.
Jon Boutcher made the remarks at the Policing Board this week, and after a political row over a reference to the "feelings of the Provisional IRA" in one police security assessment relating to the Drumcree standoff was aired in court.
The police chief said his force “was not hostage to any threats from any proscribed organisation” and the phrase had been misinterpreted and misrepresented.
“In this society today, in 2026, people often talk about members of the IRA, but they talk about members of the IRA in the context of when people were in the IRA during the Troubles and were operating in a way to bring harm to society.
“We still talk about people who are in that organisation today, who are now much older, in the same way, but they're not seeking to bring harm to society”, he said.
Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jon Burrows said he takes an entirely different view.
“The Provisional IRA is a proscribed terrorist organisation. Membership is a serious criminal offence. Age does not make membership harmless or its continued existence acceptable.
“Its very existence is anathema to democracy and, in my view, represents a latent threat to the people of Northern Ireland. Its name carries menace for those who suffered at its hands. There is no legitimate, benign or peaceful justification for maintaining a terrorist organisation.
“What purpose do its remaining structures serve? If they exist to exercise control over Sinn Féin, that raises profoundly disturbing questions for democracy. If they preserve the option of rebuilding a capacity for violence, that is equally disturbing. The public deserves answers.
“The 2015 security assessment found that the Provisional IRA retained structures and access to some weapons. It also assessed its leadership as committed to peaceful political means. That assessment does not make the organisation’s continued existence acceptable.
“On 16 October, I wrote to the Secretary of State requesting a fresh, comprehensive security assessment of all paramilitary organisations, including the Provisional IRA. I welcome the DUP subsequently supporting that call. The Secretary of State should now commission and publish an updated assessment.
“There is also a legitimate question for the Chief Constable: what investigative strategy does the PSNI have to identify those who remain members of the Provisional IRA, investigate suspected membership offences and, where the evidence supports it, make arrests and submit files to the Public Prosecution Service?
“The standard must be the same for every terrorist organisation, republican or loyalist. They should disband, and the law must be enforced without fear or favour”, he said.