Dublin reaction: Opposition leaders have renewed their demands for the IRA to end all paramilitary and criminal activity in the wake of the publication of the report of the Independent Monitoring Commission.
The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, yesterday said the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, must now ensure that the Criminal Assets Bureau had enough resources to go after the IRA.
In view of "the huge scale of illegal IRA activity revealed in the IMC report and elsewhere", he said, resources should be provided to establish a special unit to focus on paramilitary criminality if necessary.
"While I note the recommendations of the IMC in respect of financial penalties, I believe that a much more direct approach is required to pursue the proceeds of these robberies and other IRA criminality.
"I believe that the Criminal Assets Bureau should be directed to pursue the assets of those in this jurisdiction who have benefited from IRA criminality, just as CAB successfully did in respect of those involved in illegal drugs in recent years."
He described the report as "a searing indictment of the behaviour of Sinn Féin and its paramilitary wing during a time when the republican movement was engaged in negotiations with two sovereign governments".
The report reflects the sentiments of Fine Gael's Private Members' Motion earlier this week "in which we, along with the vast majority of parties in the Dáil, sent a clear message to Sinn Féin and the IRA that all their paramilitary and criminal activity must be permanently ended if further progress is to be achieved."
The Labour Party leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, said: "No reasonable person could be left in any doubt as to the responsibility of the IRA for the Northern Bank robbery or the extent to which senior members of Sinn Féin were involved in sanctioning this and other earlier robberies."
The commission which produced the report was made up of respected figures "who have no political axe to grind".
He said the succession of damning reports by the IMC places into context "the vociferous campaign of opposition to the commission mounted by Sinn Féin, North and South, when its establishment was first agreed by the two governments".
Mr Rabbitte said it was now "make-your-mind-up time for Sinn Féin".
The Green Party leader, Mr Trevor Sargent, demanded that the IMC report be followed by the bringing of charges against individuals, "otherwise trust will not be restored in the process to implement the Good Friday agreement.
"Arrests must follow in due course. Sinn Féin's pleas of innocence ring hollow as long as that party refuses to take its place on the Policing Board. If Sinn Féin was to engage with legitimate policing, then all evidence could be investigated."
Mr Sargent concluded: "The political wing of the IRA has to face up to the fact that an armed wing is a liability. We will not get out of this impasse until all parties recognise that the days of violence, illegal fund-raising and deceit have run their course."