Northern Ireland's Secretary of State said there was a special onus on Sinn Féin to draw a line between guns and government.
Speaking in Derry yesterday, Dr John Reid said that any party, particularly one in government, had an obligation to dissociate itself not only from violence but also from the preparation of violence.
"In recent months and over the past year we have seen a pretty widespread attempt by loyalists, for instance, to use pipe bombing and so on, but I believe there is a particular obligation placed on those who are in government."
Dr Reid said while he believed there was no imminent threat to the IRA ceasefire, it was unacceptable if there were suspicions that "preparations for firing sometime in the future" existed. "I want all paramilitaries to cease not only all violence, but also to cease all preparations for violence, all paramilitary organisations, and we cannot have a decent democratic modern Northern Ireland unless that condition is fulfilled. This is not something that should be surprising to anyone.
