Nineteenth report of the Independent Monitoring Commission

This ad hoc report from the Independent Monitoring Commission is the response to a request from the British and Irish governments for a fuller assessment of the completion of the transformation of the Provisional IRA (PIRA).In July 2005, PIRA formally announced the end of its armed campaign and instructed its volunteers to cease all activities and to commit to exclusively peaceful means to pursue its objectives.

In September 2005 it decommissioned its weapons.There have been further changes and developments since then, including: the decision of Sinn Fein to support policing and the criminal justice system; Sinn Fein's entry into the Northern Ireland Executive in May 2007; and the number of people making the transition from PIRA to Sinn Fein.The Commission firmly believes that the PIRA is set on the political path, and will remain so, and that it does not represent a threat to peace or democratic politics.

PIRA, as an organisation, no longer does what it used to do and by design it is being allowed to wither away.The way in which its leadership has changed the nature of the organisation makes it highly unlikely that PIRA will ever re-emerge as a terrorist organisation. PIRA has completely relinquished the leadership and other structures appropriate to a time of armed conflict.