Continuing the round of statements from party leaders, the Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has spoken about the recent developments in the McGuigan murder. Here are his comments;
The killing of Kevin McGuigan was wrong and those who were involved in it are criminals who do not represent republicanism. The so-called group Action against Drugs is a criminal gang. It is a mix of criminals and former republicans who have engaged in intimidation and violence in pursuit of their criminal ends.
My thoughts are with the McGuigan family. Anyone with any information on this brutal murder should bring it forward to the PSNI.
So too should anyone with information on the killing of Jock Davison.
There has been a lot of speculation and media spin about whether the IRA was involved in the killing of Kevin McGuigan.
The IRA was not involved.
In July 2005 the IRA left the stage. Its leadership ordered an end to the armed campaign; its representatives to ‘engage with the IICD to complete the process to verifiably put its arms beyond use’ and instructed its volunteers to take part only in ‘purely political and democratic programmes’ and no ‘other activities whatsoever’.
All of this was done as part of a genuine initiative to build a just and lasting peace and in support of the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
Those who threaten to take action against Sinn Féin in the Assembly and Executive have no basis whatsoever for this. Sinn Féin’s mandate and the rights and entitlements of our electorate deserve exactly the same respect and protection as anyone else’s’.
The events surrounding the murders of Jock Davison and Kevin McGuigan and their investigation are matters for the PSNI.
David McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
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