Sinn Fein dismisses IRA involvement

Sinn Fein has accused the Police Service of Northern Ireland of a dirty tricks campaign to smear republicans involved in the search for peace.

Following top level claims that the IRA was behind the £22 million Belfast bank robbery, Sinn Fein's Mitchel McLaughlin attacked the "politically motivated accusations from NIO securocrats".

His comments came after PSNI chief constable Sir Hugh Orde said republican paramilitaries had conducted the biggest ever cash grab in Britain's history.

Speaking on Friday Ulster secretary Paul Murphy said the alleged IRA bank raid was "deeply damaging" to the peace process.

Diversion

But McLaughlin claimed the allegations of IRA involvement were a clear attempt to divert attention from the DUP's failure to back a return to power sharing government in Northern Ireland.
 
"There is no doubt that the process has been in difficulty since December, when the DUP refused to sign up for power sharing government and this situation has been worsened as a result of Hugh Orde's politically motivated accusations," he claimed.

"There is also no doubt that there are those within the NIO who are seeking to exploit this difficulty to bring about the exclusion of Sinn Fein and ensure that the comprehensive deal will not be achieved."

McLaughlin went on to claim that the IRA has "made clear that it did not carry out this robbery".

"Hugh Orde went to the media yesterday, not on the basis of facts or evidence, but on the basis of reports from securocrats who have been working to undermine the peace process for years now," he added.

"The objective of all of this is to subvert efforts to build on what has been achieved and to halt the process of change."