§ The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Paul Murphy)On 20 April 2004 I formally requested the Independent Monitoring Commission to prepare a 13WS security normalisation report under article 5(2) of the international agreement between the British and Irish Governments.
Article 5(2) enables the British Government to commission the IMC to prepare a report on security normalisation activity undertaken over a specified period. I asked the IMC to report on all normalisation activities which have taken place since December 1999 up to the present time. The activities are set out in article 5(1)(a)(i) to (v) of the international agreement. The IMC report also takes account of views on the effects of normalisation on the ground and the programme of reform to deliver a community based policing environment in Northern Ireland. It is distinct from the monitoring of the programme of normalisation included in the joint declaration which is yet to be commenced.
I am most grateful to the commission for its thorough report. The report is helpful in identifying the extent of steps that have been taken to reduce the security profile in Northern Ireland. The report also recognises that further steps are being taken, but that these must be measured against the prevailing assessment of the security threat.
I have placed copies of the second report of the Independent Monitoring Commission in the Libraries of both Houses.