A SINN FEIN BACKLASH

Garda Commissioner agrees with the PSNI that army council oversees SF FF and FG row in on warning Mary Lou says the IRA has gone away

THE gulf between Sinn Féin and other parties widened further last night, after the Garda Commissioner said the IRA Army Council was still in charge of the organisation.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald hit back last night, saying that she didn’t answer to the IRA and that the war was over.

Senior figures within Sinn Féin have also told the Irish Daily Mail that they believed recent statements by both the PSNI and now Garda Commissioner Drew Harris were an attempt to

undermine the party’s prospects to be a major part of the 33rd Dáil.

Speaking at a ceremony for 200 new garda recruits in Templemore, Co. Tipperary, Mr Harris said he agreed with the PSNI assessment.

‘In national security matters and matters around the State, it is my obligation to report to the Government, as you would expect me to do. Also, we have been contributing to the IRC (Independent Reporting Commission) reporting on the status of various paramilitary groups and we would hold with their opinion on these matters.

‘I am also aware of the PSNI and the British security services assessment and we do not differ from that view,’ he said.

In November last – months before the election – the PSNI said that the IRA Army Council retains oversight of Sinn Féin and that there had been no change to their 2015 assessment of the relationship between the IRA and Sinn Féin.

But senior members of Sinn Féin have claimed that agents of the State are seeking to preserve the status quo in terms of the political establishment, and with Sinn Féin’s rise both north and south of the Border are fearful of an eruption of violence, particularly as Sinn Féin members have themselves been threatened by dissident factions.

Senior Sinn Féin figures in Northern Ireland such as Michelle O’Neill, Gerry Kelly and Martina Anderson have been checking under their vehicles for car bombs in recent weeks.

A 2015 report, ‘Assessment on

‘The IRA have gone away’

paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland’ authored by the PSNI and Britain’s MI5, said the Provisional Army Council still existed, as did the Provisional IRA, however it said it was much smaller in size and committed to the peace process.

Last night, Sinn Féin issued a statement implying that the Garda Commissioner’s comments were politically motivated.

‘It will be lost on no one that this nonsense is being repeated again the day after a vote in the Dáil where, for the first time ever, someone other than Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael nominee won the most votes for Taoiseach.’

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald also hit back last night, saying she didn’t answer to the IRA and that the war was over.

‘The IRA have gone away. The IRA will not be returning. The days of conflict are past.

‘I don’t answer for the IRA; I’m not a spokesperson for the IRA. I’m the leader of Sinn Féin and I’m telling you the war is over,’ she told RTÉ News.

Speaking at an event in Dundalk, Co. Louth, she said: ‘Everyone knows that republicans are absolutely committed to democracy and to the peace process. Drew Harris, the PSNI and others also know that Sinn Féin members including Michelle O’Neill have actually been threatened by dangerous elements and by so-called dissident elements.

‘The war is over and the IRA is off the stage. The only threat now is so-called dissident elements that actually threaten Sinn Féin because we support the police service.’

A former member of the Provisional IRA and a current member of Sinn Féin last night told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘You could predict it, this is all done for political reasons. They had this report out last November, and it comes out [again] today. I think it is all politically driven.

‘It’s the establishment biting back. The establishment are quite happy with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in perpetual government, it suits their economic ambitions and on top of that it keeps the left from coming together.

‘Look at it from an MI5 perspective. Look at the border poll, and the possibility of another Scottish referendum. The Union is under threat. Sinn Féin are in government in the north and there is the possibility of them being in Government in the south.’

Prior to Ms McDonald’s comments last night, Taoiseach Leo

Varadkar called on her to state publicly if her party has cut links with the IRA Army Council.

‘Why doesn’t McDonald disband the Army Council and the PIRA [Provisional IRA] or if she cannot, repudiate them and sever all links and do so publicly and unequivocally?’ questioned Mr Varadkar on Twitter.

Fianna Fáil party leader Micheál Martin also said: ‘No matter how hard Sinn Féin representatives try to spin in the media, and no matter how aggressively their trolls try to bully critics on social media, the inconvenient truth keeps popping up. These are real issues that aren’t going away.’

On Thursday, the Dáil failed to elect a Taoiseach at its first sitting after the election. Ms McDonald received the most votes, 45, to become the next Taoiseach.

However, the latest statements against Sinn Féin, particularly by Mr Harris, will likely further strengthen the resolve of parties not to form a Government with Sinn Féin and isolate them even further politically.

Ex-SDLP councillor and IRA sex abuse victim Maria Cahill said: ‘When the Garda Commissioner and the PSNI both say that the IRA run Sinn Féin, it’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s a security assessment with intelligence and is done for the purposes of monitoring terrorism. Those who mocked “shadowy figures” need to wise up. Get SF, you get the IRA,’ she tweeted.

Meanwhile, Mr Varadkar and Mr Martin have agreed to meet for exploratory talks next week as efforts to form a government intensify.

‘The Union is under threat’