News Brief

The Anglican Archbishop of Armagh, Alan Harper, has said that further confidence building measures are needed to ensure that the political process in Northern Ireland can continue to work.

The Archbishop's comments come after the latest report from the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) released on Wednesday 4 November 2009.

The report warns that the threat posed by Republican dissidents in the province is at its highest for six years and poses a challenge to devolution of power.

The IMC report also warns that small paramilitary splinter groups could start targeting the British mainland again.

It says that they are being assisted in destabilising the peace process by former Provisional IRA members.

"The overall level of dissident activity was markedly higher than we have seen since we first met in late 2003,” the report says.

It continues: "The seriousness, range and tempo of their activities all changed for the worse in these six months. During this period, dissident republicans were violent and showed an intent to kill if the opportunity arose."

The seriousness of the threat was highlighted in March 2009 when the Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) shot dead two British soldiers and the Real IRA killed a police officer.

Archbishop Alan Harper commented that the Independent Monitoring Commission's report makes for “grim reading”.

He said it was “imperative” that further progress be made in building confidence in the stability and efficacy of local political institutions.

Harper declared: “Confidence building measures include completion of the process required for the devolution of policing and justice powers, together with renewed efforts to resolve outstanding difficulties surrounding contentious parades.”

He added: “We need to show clearly that devolved politics works and so deny to those who wish to take us back to the darkness of the past any justification, legitimate or otherwise, for their actions.”

Archbishop Harper heads the Church of Ireland, part of the 77 million worldwide Anglican Communion, which operates both in the province of Northern Ireland, still part of the UK (though with special cooperative arrangements with Eire), and the Republic of Ireland itself.