The Sinn Féin chief negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, has said that death threats against Catholic members of the policing authorities in the North were "not a matter for the IRA" to explain.
Speaking at Iveagh House, Dublin, after a meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, Mr McGuinness condemned the threats. Dissident republicans he said were "militarily useless and politically a shambles".
Mr McGuinness said there was no need for the Provisional IRA to clarify that it was not involved in the threats and attacks on Catholic policing authority members.
He said: "These incidents are absolutely deplorable. They are despicable, they are unjustifiable and they are coming from a gang of people who are militarily useless and politically are a shambles. And of course we should all come together and express in the strongest possible terms our absolute abhorrence of these ongoing attacks on independent members of the district policing partnerships."
Responding to demands for clarification from the IRA by the SDLP, Mr McGuinness accused the SDLP leader, Mr Mark Durkan, of politicking. Mr Durkan called on the IRA to confirm Sinn Féin claims that it was not connected with the threats.
Mr McGuinness said "mainstream republicans" would not involve themselves in attacks or threats against independent members of the District Policing Partnerships "under any circumstances". He said he was surprised at the stance of the SDLP leadership because the deputy chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, Mr Denis Bradley, who has been threatened with murder by the "Real IRA", had acknowledged that mainstream republicans were not involved.
"The vast majority of the people of this island, and certainly people in the know in the North, know that under no circumstances whatsoever, would mainstream republicans countenance being involved in this type of activity. So this is not a matter for the IRA. This is a matter for the SDLP to stop politicking on what is a serious issue. Denis Bradley himself on a number of occasions over the last number of days has stated very clearly that he does not believe that mainstream republicans, as they are described, are involved in any of these activities."
