The Garda Commissioner has rejected claims that An Garda Síochána has denied the existence of the Provisional IRA.
Nóirín O'Sullivan made her first statement following controversy over the question as to whether or not the IRA continues to exist following the murder of Kevin McGuigan in Belfast.
She said that a letter she wrote to Sinn Féin last February did not deal with this question but the one that as to whether the Provisional IRA still maintains its military structure and confines its military activities to fuel laundering, cigarette smuggling and counterfeiting.
The commissioner said that the reply was that the gardaí had no information to support that assertion and that this was consistent with the finding of the Independent Monitoring Commission.
She added the gardaí’s “security assessments will continue to be based on credible intelligence, hard facts and emerging evidence”.
Ms O'Sullivan also said the position of the gardaí is that there has been no evidence available here to call into question that assessment made by the IMC, but that it keeps its security assessments under constant review.
She also confirmed she will be informing Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald of any issues emerging in the context of the current PSNI murder investigation.
The commissioner added: “Down through the years many members of An Garda Síochána paid the ultimate sacrifice at the hands of the Provisional IRA. It is wrong to suggest that An Garda Síochána would in any way turn a blind eye to the activities of any such organisation.”
In 2008, an Independent Monitoring Commission appointed by the Irish and British governments to verify arms decommissioning by republicans and loyalists said the IRA had disbanded.
However, at the weekend PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton said parts of its structure were still in place for a radically different purpose from the 1990s.
Yesterday, Ms Fitzgerald asked the Garda Commissioner to conduct a "fresh assessment" of the activities of the Provisional IRA in light of the PSNI investigation into the murder of Mr McGuigan.
In a statement, Ms Fitzgerald said: "Recent developments are of considerable concern but what we need to do now is establish all the current facts and that is what is happening in the rigorous investigation being carried out by the PSNI."
