Crackdown on cross-Border crime crucial to new NI agreement

A serious crackdown on cross-border crime will have to be a crucial component of any new Northern agreement, according to Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan.

As the talks head into their final phase this week after two months of intense negotiations Mr Flanagan said a new approach to cross-Border crime was essential.

Writing in today's Irish Times the Minister said the establishment of a cross-Border task force was one of the conditions the Irish Government wanted to see as part of a comprehensive agreement to the Northern institutions on a firm footing.

"There must be consensus on a new approach to tackling organised crime, much of which has its roots in paramilitary groups, as the recent reports of the Garda Síochána and PSNI/MI5 make clear.

“Involvement in violence and intimidation, large-scale smuggling operations, fuel laundering, drug dealing and extortion are destroying lives on both sides of the Border. This cannot be tolerated in a democratic society,” said the Minister.

He said the talks must produce an outcome that further deepened North-South co-operation in tackling the problem.

“I want agreement forged on the proposal to establish a new cross-Border task force to more comprehensively tackle cross-Border organised crime.”

Mr Flanagan added that there was ample scope to build on the existing strong co-operation between the Garda­, the PSNI, the Revenue Commissioners, HM Revenue and Customs, the Criminal Assets Bureau and the UK National Crime Agency and our respective Justice Ministers.

“Given the growing problem of illegal waste, there is clearly also a strong argument for an environmental protection dimension to be included in the remit of such a task force. This is an unmissable opportunity to free communities from the toxic grip of ruthless criminals,” he said.

Paramilitarism

Mr Flanagan said that for the past two months he and Northern Secretary Teresa Villiers, had been co-chairing the talks with the objective of delivering the implementation of last year’s Stormont House Agreement and addressing the corrosive legacy of paramilitarism in Northern Ireland.

“As recent high profile murders in Belfast and reports from An Garda Síochánaand the PSNI/MI5 made clear, the pernicious legacy of paramilitarism continues to haunt many communities on both sides of the border.

“Alongside the various paramilitary groups which have at least eschewed terrorism, dissident republicans, who completely reject the peace process, pose the biggest threat to the security of the State right across the entire island of Ireland,” said Mr Flanagan.

He pointed out that the day after the new talks process was announced Taoiseach Enda Kenny had made clear the Irish Government view on the legacy of paramilitarism, by emphatically disavowing constructive ambiguity and insisting on the eradication of paramilitarism and all its vestiges.

“A key requirement from Northern Ireland’s political parties in these talks is the delivery of unambiguous clear blue water between politicians and paramilitary organisations.

"There must be an explicit commitment to the democratic institutions of the state and to the rule of law, whether expressed through the Executive, the Assembly, the courts, the police service or the Parades Commission, " he said.