PARAMILITARY groups such as the Provisional IRA and UVF still in the North of Ireland, an MI5/PSNI report claims.
The report, released yesterday, reveals the major paramilitary groups that operated during the Troubles are still in existence but for peaceful rather than terrorist aims.
The publication of the report has prompted politicians from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to step back into their ministerial offices, after they backed out last month amid the political fallout from the murder of Kevin McGuigan, which was described as a PIRA revenge killing.
Discussions aimed at averting a collapse of Government in Stormont have been on-going since the death of McGuigan in August, which sparked the current political crisis.
Clashes between the parties in Stormont prompted the MI5 and the Police Service of Northern Ireland's report into paramilitary activity.
Key points from the report
1. All main republican and loyalist groups in the North of Ireland still exist. These include: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), Red Hand Commando (RHC), Ulster Defence Association (UCD), Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
2. Most of these groups are now committed to achieving their political aims by peaceful means. None are planning attacks
3. No paramilitary group has total control over its members
4. The most significant threat in the North of Ireland comes from dissident republicans
5. Dissident republicans have mounted between 15 and 40 attacks per year since 2000
