DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley appeared yesterday to impose new conditions on republicans before he would agree to share power with Sinn Féin in a restored devolved Northern Assembly.
At Stormont he told the Assembly that the IRA must be "stood down" and that in relation to criminality, the organisation's "multi-million pound empire" must be handed up and those involved in it made accountable to the police.
He reiterated that there could be no chance of a deal by the November 24th deadline set by the British and Irish governments without Sinn Féin fully supporting the police.
While some observers characterised Dr Paisley's comments as typical "hard-balling" ahead of the intensive Northern party talks in Scotland next month, the DUP leader nonetheless was demanding more of the IRA than last year's IRA decommissioning and formal declaration that its "armed struggle" was over.
On alleged IRA criminality, Dr Paisley said, "The multi-million pound empire has to be given up practically and openly. Those involved in the £300 million [ €445 million] empire must be handed over to the police. The ill-gotten gains of crime will be abandoned and law enforcement agencies will be supported in the seizure of these illegal gains." He also called for the disbandment of the IRA.
"Republicans like all other citizens must submit themselves to the rule of law by the police and courts. That means that the organisation of the IRA must be stood down and abandoned," he said.
Dr Paisley, who with senior party colleagues also met the Independent Monitoring Commission yesterday to discuss IRA activity, further demanded in the Assembly that those IRA members who refused to abandon criminality should be handed over for prosecution by the PSNI.
"Those republican activists who will not give up crime and are integral to the republican movement in the past must be handed over to the police with available evidence. There are no get out of jail free cards to be handed out to the IRA or any other terrorist organisation," he said.
Dr Paisley did, however, offer up some hope of a deal if Sinn Féin fully signed up for policing. "It is Sinn Féin who must tackle their failure to support the police and the forces of law and order in Northern Ireland. They must support them and encourage others to support them. And when that happens we will then be on the way to establishing full democracy in our beloved province."
Meanwhile, the Police Ombudsman's office has issued a jaundiced response to comments Ulster Unionist Assembly member Danny Kennedy made about Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan in the Assembly yesterday.
Mr Kennedy said of Mrs O'Loan, who is married to SDLP councillor in Ballymena Declan O'Loan: "Her position is slightly compromised by family relationships which link her to the SDLP. And that in the perception of the wider unionist community remains a significant chill factor."
He added that there was a widespread perception that Mrs O'Loan was "not only anti-police but particularly and most especially anti-RUC".
A Police Ombudsman spokesman said Mrs O'Loan had never been a member of any political party and had previously served on the Police Authority, which the SDLP opposed. "I think some politicians should realise that women have views of their own. It may even surprise some politicians that women can have independent views from their husbands," he added.
Meanwhile, DUP MLA Mark Robinson defended his claiming £18,000 in travel expenses last year despite the fact that he sits for South Belfast. He said he travelled from Bushmills, Co Antrim, to Belfast which "considerably altered the journeys for which I claim from the Assembly".
