Twenty-first report of the Independent Monitoring Commission

This report focuses on the six-month period from 1 September 2008 to 28 February 2009.

The murders of two British soldiers in Antrim, just after the report period, confirmed the finding that dissident republican movements - particularly Continuity IRA and the Real IRA - remain a major danger to peace, with a continuing high level of serious violent activity detailed in this report.

All the groups are also involved in other criminal activity, such as: drug dealing; kidnapping; extortion and smuggling; and fuel laundering.

The loyalist paramilitaries showed less activity, with the mainstream UDA now needing to address urgently the issue of decommissioning of weapons before the protection of the decommissioning legislation is lifted (by February 2010 at the latest).

The UVF appears to be continuing to run down, though some members are still involved in criminal activity for personal gain.