The leadership of the loyalist Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is struggling to end violence and criminality in its ranks, a report by the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) said today.
According to the IMC, the loyalist group's leaders have had some limited success in steering the UDA on to a peaceful footing, but internal tensions had considerably slowed down the pace of change.
The 17th report by Northern Ireland's ceasefire watchdog also revealed the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) has embarked on a strategy to move away from paramilitarism and crime but was encountering some pockets of resistance.
And while the IMC's report did not address claims that a Provisional IRA gang beat to death south Armagh man Paul Quinn last month, they insisted the organisation was still firmly committed to a peaceful path.
The four-member commission confirmed the UDA in July was involved in clashes with a rival faction in Carrickfergus and said it had to bear responsibility for the wounding of a police officer in a gun attack during the disturbances.
UDA members, it also said, took part in serious rioting which erupted in August in the loyalist Kilcooley estate in Bangor following police raids. The organisation was blamed for other attacks including the petrol bombing in Ballymena of premises occupied by two Polish nationals.
Despite efforts by the leadership to discourage involvement in crime, members also engaged between March 1st and August 31st in drug dealing, loan sharking and the sale of counterfeit goods.
On the plus side, the IMC noted the UDA recently had positive talks with General John de Chastelain's Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD). The commissioners insisted any assessment of the UDA was complex and had to take into account internal feuding which had limited the ability of senior figures to move the organisation in an entirely new direction.
"The organisation is not centrally structured and, as has been demonstrated in the six months under review this limits its capacity to deliver change quickly," they observed.
"The pace of real change is far too slow. We will continue to judge the organisation by what it does, not by what it says."
The IMC said the other main loyalist group, the UVF had reached a turning point with its announcement in May that it had put its weapons beyond reach and was embarking on a strategy to civilianise itself.
Their report said broadly speaking that work was under way. UVF leaders had briefed grassroots members and had started to downsize the organisation, expelling some people on disciplinary grounds and allowing others to leave.
There was no evidence of recruitment, targeting or moves to acquire weapons, although it could not rule out unsanctioned attempts. Any intelligence gathering that had taken place had been directed against potential informers or suspected dissident republican paramilitaries.
However some members continued to engage in violence and crime, although it was against official policy.