THE REPUBLICAN leadership has privately assured Peter Robinson that the IRA is permanently out of business, the DUP First Minister confirmed over the weekend.
Mr Robinson urged the republican leadership to make those points publicly as part of the exercise to gain unionist confidence in the republican commitment to the political structures in Northern Ireland.
After the five-month DUP-Sinn Féin stand-off that had blocked the Executive convening finally ended last week, Mr Robinson repeated that an essential part of the process leading to the devolution of policing and justice was unionist confidence for such a move.
On Saturday, Mr Robinson was asked on BBC Radio Ulster's Inside Politics programme if one of his conditions for movement was an assurance from the republican leadership that the IRA army council would never meet again.
Mr Robinson said the test for assessing public confidence in creating a department of justice would be determined by the DUP over the next number of months.
"Clearly, right at the heart of building confidence within the community will be people's perception of those who are in the Assembly," he said.
"So, it's important that those who are in the leadership of the republican movement make it clear publicly, as they have to us privately, that the IRA is out of business for good and isn't going to return," he added.
"People have to be convinced, and it's not just somebody saying it, all the actions have to be there - the actions are more important. And there have been some actions and we will see them in the next number of days which indicate good faith on the part of republicans in terms of how we move forward," said Mr Robinson.
Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday Mr Robinson was reluctant to elaborate on his comments. He said he made no specific reference to the IRA army council in his remarks. Mr Robinson added that what was important was the future "actions of republicans, particularly in relation to issues such as policing and justice" that would assist in building public confidence in transferring justice powers to the Northern Executive.
Traditional Unionist Voice MEP Jim Allister said it was "pitiful that the DUP leader has been reduced to peddling republican-friendly spin".
"Even Chamberlain had a piece of paper. All Peter has are 'private assurances' from the republican leadership - the same leadership which assures us Gerry Adams was never even in the IRA. Now, Peter Robinson is reduced to a plaintive, desperate plea that Marty says publicly what he claims he has told him in private. How pathetic," he added.
"The sad truth is that the DUP has got so entangled in the web of Belfast Agreement devolution that it will say anything and do anything just to cling to power," said Mr Allister.
