Downing Street Says » Northern Ireland

Asked what was said about the Northern Ireland situation in Cabinet, the PMS said that Shaun Woodward made the point that whatever the individuals behind these murderous acts chose to call themselves, they were a small number of criminals who had no support from the local community for what they were doing. It was clear when the Prime Minister and Shaun Woodward visited the area yesterday, and from the public statements made, that political leaders across the community in Northern Ireland were completely untied in the response and condemnation of these acts and that the activities of a handful of criminals would not undermine the peace process.

Asked about the security and political responses to what had happened in Northern Ireland over the past few days, the PMS said that the political response was business as usual; the peace process continued and there was complete support for that from political leaders across Northern Ireland as we had seen very clearly yesterday. In terms of the security response it was a matter for the Chief Constable of the Police Service and the Ministry of Defence to keep under review. The threat level was continually assessed and the relevant agencies continually reviewed security arrangements.

Asked what the PMS had meant by a handful of criminals , the PMS said that the actions appeared to be those of a very small number of criminals and, in terms of the support they had from within the community, it was not remotely on the scale of what we had seen during previous decades in Northern Ireland.

Asked if there was suspicion that the attacks in Northern Ireland over the last few days were part of a coordinated campaign, the PMS said that there was an ongoing investigation into who was responsible. A number of groups appeared to be claiming responsibility for the different attacks, but whoever was behind them did not have the support of the community. The police and others would remain vigilant and the threat level would be continually assessed.

Put that it was important not to overreact, the PMS said that, as Shaun Woodward had said, any response was proportionate; these were the actions of criminals who did not have the support of the community.

Asked if it had been suggested that more troops would be sent to Northern Ireland, the PMS said that there was no suggestion of that; Shaun Woodward had made clear that we were not going to return to the sorts of arrangements we saw in previous decades. We had to be vigilant, but we were determined to keep the peace process moving forward and respond in a proportionate way.

Asked if there was any sense of what had led to these attacks, the PMS said that it was not for us to speculate about the attackers motives. The peace process and the process of devolution were almost complete and we were now quite close to the stage of full devolution in Northern Ireland. There were a few remaining procedures that needed to be monitored in order to complete devolution of policing and security, but this remained on track.

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» Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Northern Ireland

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