Loyalist and republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland are raking in an estimated £125 million sterling a year from racketeering and extortion, it was claimed today.
Ulster Unionist MP the Rev Martin Smyth said organised crime was growing rapidly day by day and the drug scene, almost exclusively managed by paramilitaries, was also on the increase.
The South Belfast MP hit out at paramilitaries for their refusal to allow the people of Northern Ireland to live in peace and condemned them for the misery they continued to cause the province.
"Northern Ireland is caught in a Mafioso mentality" he said in an address to the Trinity College Dublin Association at Haileybury College, Hertfordshire.
Paramilitary groups were of no benefit to any part of society, he said, and they now sought to reaffirm their role in the community by acting as some sort of local police, dealing out "community justice".
Between the signing of the Belfast Agreement in April 1998 and the end of February this year there had been 836 paramilitary style assaults and 804 paramilitary style shootings, he said.
"Northern Ireland is really under a cloud of perceived peace," said Mr Smyth. "Today, drug dealing, prostitution and the procurement of 'protection money' drive many within paramilitary groups.
"The banner they used to validate their acts, that of fighting for Queen or Ireland, has proved unsustainable," he said.
"Organised crime in Northern Ireland is growing rapidly by the day. The drug scene, which is almost exclusively managed by paramilitaries is also on the increase," said Mr Smyth.
He pointed to the freezing of cash and property worth £1.5 million belonging to a single loyalist paramilitary leader by the Assets Recovery Agency last September.
And, he said: "It is estimated that paramilitaries earn more than £125 million per year from racketeering and extortion.
"What possible benefit can these people claim to be to our society?"