O'Donnell refuses to be drawn on disquiet over IRA ceasefire

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, has said "fine political judgments" must be considered alongside…

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, has said "fine political judgments" must be considered alongside security intelligence in determining the current state of the Provisional IRA ceasefire.

She was speaking during a courtesy call to Dublin by Mr George Howarth, the newly appointed Political Development Minister in Northern Ireland.

Ms O'Donnell was responding to a question on the Government's understanding of the IRA ceasefire in light of reports that the security forces in the North believe the IRA was responsible for the murder of Mr Charles Bennett in Belfast.

"Any assessment of whether a ceasefire has been breached is one based on security intelligence obviously, but also on fine political judgments from the ministers involved in the two governments," she said.

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She expressed concern about recent events but said she "would not talk about the situation spiralling out of control or anything like that". The participants in the review of the Belfast Agreement, to begin next month, "know the cost of failure and know the imperative to have established an inclusive executive as soon as possible".

Ms O'Donnell welcomed Mr Howarth to Dublin and said he was joining "the process at a very important juncture".

He replaces Mr Paul Murphy as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State with responsibility for political development; health and social services; equality and human rights and community relations.

Mr Murphy was promoted to Secretary of State for Wales in last week's British cabinet reshuffle.