“those who want to work to a positive agenda..”

The Secretary of State for Wales, etc, Peter Hain, may well be on his way out – almost certainly from at least one of his current jobs – but he’s just announced a review of the status of specified and other paramilitary organisations – outcome expected in the autumn after an October IMC report. He’s specifically mentioned the UVF.. but I suspect the ‘good’, and ‘not so good’, UDA will also be paying attention.. as well as a few others. [That lid still on? – Ed]From the NIO statement

Notes to Editors:

1. Section 8 of the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 states that the Secretary of State shall specify any organisation which he believes is concerned in terrorism connected with the affairs of Northern Ireland, or in promoting or encouraging it, and has not established or is maintaining a complete and unequivocal ceasefire. Section 10 requires the Secretary of State to review the list of specified organisations from time to time.

2. Organisations currently specified are:

The Continuity Irish Republican Army

The Loyalist Volunteer Force

The Orange Volunteers

The Real Irish Republican Army

The Red Hand Defenders

The Ulster Volunteer Force/Red Hand Commandos

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.