Everything Ulster - Election 2005

SINN Fein today accused PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde of "political intervention" when he revealed that his assessment was that the IRA were still recruiting. He said that his current assessment was that they have the "capability" and "capacity" to return to armed struggle. Of course the Daily Ireland (AKA the Völkischer Beobachter) was on the case to stand up for the brave men of Sinn Fein against the evil 'extension of the British state' that Orde leads.

[More:]

This is definitely a worrying, if not surprising announcement. The fact that Sinn Fein would dismiss out of hand a security assessment that has been made by both Northern Ireland's top cop and the Republic of Ireland's Justice Minister is even worse. Sinn Fein are obviously reverting into Teflon mode in an effort to ensure that no matter how serious the allegations are, no matter how much of a threat to national security the IRA potentially pose, it doesn't matter because anyone who points this out is out to score points.

But how can they be scoring political points? Mr Orde never mentioned Sinn Fein or any other political party, did he? Unless the IRA are part of some larger political grouping, I don't see why anyone should complain. Hugh Orde is a police officer. He wants (I presume) to see the IRA go away. I think he has a right to point out that in his opinion, and I freely admit he's in a position to be better informed on the matter than myself, the IRA does not look like going away any time soon. More importantly, you and I have a right to know what level of threat is posed to us, our family and friends in our own country and it's Mr Orde's job to tell us.

If Sinn Fein really want to stop being attacked for what their buddies/comrades/brothers at arms/alteregos in the IRA are doing the answer is simple. If the IRA goes away people like Mr Orde will not be able to make any 'political interventions' - so get on with it. When there's no IRA, nobody can use them to score political points, least of all Sinn Fein who have been riding on the back of the IRA since day one.