The 'Real IRA' can continue to hit at the foundations of policing as long as Sinn Féin remains off the Policing Board, writes Gerry Moriarty,Northern Editor.
Robert Quinn's car, specially modified for his disability, was a sad sight, burnt out outside his home in Derry yesterday morning. His crutches were inside, destroyed as well when the "Real IRA" torched the vehicle.
Mr Quinn wasn't the target; it was his wife, Marian, a Catholic member of the local District Policing Partnership (DPP). Earlier this summer, her daughter's car was targeted and, just a few weeks ago, the "Real IRA" sent Mrs Quinn a bullet in the post.
DPP members were also intimidated in Strabane and Cookstown in the past week: part of an escalating campaign to force Catholics off the DPPs.
There are 541 DPP members in the North, 207 of whom are independent members, i.e. not aligned to any political party but perceived as either nationalist or unionist. All 541 are "legitimate targets", according to the "Real IRA", in a chilling phrase we thought had departed from the Northern Ireland vocabulary.
One IRA figure was dismissive of what Provisional republicans call the Coca-Colas, as in the so-called "real thing". "What's the 'A' in 'Real IRA' stand for?" he asked. "Army, isn't it? Some army, targeting people like that, not to mention Omagh."
A fair point, although the IRA was responsible for more than its share of Omaghs.
This campaign is having an effect and has the potential to be even more destabilising.
The DPPs, which geographically conform to the North's 26 local government areas, are a key element of the new structures designed to create a policing service that the entire community can embrace. They liaise with local Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) commanders and have an important function in holding the PSNI to account.
Undermine the DPPs and the "Real IRA" can undermine policing itself. There is a lot at stake.
Two members of DPPs in Cookstown and Fermanagh resigned from the boards because of the threats, and others may follow, according to Mr Denis Bradley, deputy chairman of the Policing Board, who yesterday received a death threat from the "Real IRA".
Mrs Quinn talked tough yesterday, while acknowledging her vulnerability. "I am frightened for myself and I am frightened for my family - what mother wouldn't be? But a stand has to be taken and these men have to be told no, enough is enough," she said.
Brave words, and generally that has been the reaction from the DPP members. But intimidation is a terrifying business. More DPP members may find it difficult to remain on board when they hear the family concerns of their fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons or daughters.
Mr Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin was unequivocal yesterday in his condemnation of the attacks and scare tactics. He was equally categorical that Provisional republicans were not involved, despite comments earlier in the week by The PSNI Chief Constable, Mr Hugh Orde, that there was intelligence to indicate Provisional IRA elements were party to the intimidation of Cookstown DPP members.
He accused Mr Orde of politicking - a charge he also laid against the SDLP leader, Mr Mark Durkan, for urging the IRA to issue a clear-the-air statement on the matter.
"I am absolutely certain and confident that no mainstream republican is involved in any way in these attacks," Mr McGuinness said. "I think the intimidation is absolutely deplorable. It is unjustifiable, and the gang who are issuing these threats should withdraw these threats, and should go further and disband."
The reality remains, however, that while Sinn Féin persists in its boycott of the Policing Board, the "Real IRA" can continue its efforts to subvert the Patten reforms.
Mr McGuinness was also clear on the Policing Board when he spoke to The Irish Times yesterday: Sinn Féin isn't for joining, at least not yet.
"We will join up when we get policing right," he said.
The issue, he says, is a key element of the current negotiations - chiefly involving the British and Irish governments, Sinn Féin and the Ulster Unionist Party - aimed at restoring devolution.
In particular, republicans want responsibility for policing and criminal justice devolved to the Northern Executive and Assembly. The British government has committed itself to such devolution, but Sinn Féin is demanding cast-iron guarantees before it will consider taking the plunge. That position must be confusing for ordinary nationalists and republicans, who want political direction on whether they should support and even join the PSNI.
On one hand, Mr McGuinness can condemn the "Real IRA" for targeting those who support the policing system yet cannot be part of that system. In such circumstances, it must be difficult for the Catholic community at ground level to rise up against dissident republicans, as Mr Bradley urged yesterday, when there are confused signals from mainstream republicans.
Mr Tom Kelly, a former SDLP vice-chairman and independent member of the Policing Board, welcomed Mr McGuinness's condemnation of the "Real IRA" but said that Sinn Féin should join the board.
"That would destroy the 'Real IRA'," he insisted. "There is a policing imperative in Northern Ireland, and Sinn Féin can't wait until they have been courted enough. They have a duty to come on board now."
Mr Kelly disputed Mr McGuinness's assertion that the SDLP jumped too soon in supporting the new policing system.
In turn, he put a challenging argument to Sinn Féin. "What is it about too soon? Did republicans jump too soon in supporting devolution when clearly everything wasn't bedded down. Gerry Adams is very quick to remind us that this is all part of a process. So if politics is part of an evolving process, as republicans have said, then policing should be part of an evolving process, and they should join the Policing Board."