Speaking today, DUP MEP Jim Allister QC said, “As the noose tightens Sinn Fein’s stance that the IRA didn’t rob the bank becomes even more laughingly untenable. No doubt the fact that a key financial operative within Republican ranks and a Sinn Fein candidate are among those caught and arrested, will drive Sinn Fein into an even more preposterous position.

The real issues which matters, though, is how the British Government will respond. No-one expects anything but lies and deceit from Sinn Fein but a Government that poses as an international policeman across the world can’t sit on its hands on this issue any longer.

It is 2 months since Adams’ cohorts robbed the Northern Bank and to date the British Government’s response has been pathetic – all talk but no action. Just as there is now nowhere left for Sinn Fein to hide, so the Government must act decisively to ostracise and punish the Republican movement. The penalty must fit the crime with not just withdrawal of privileges but emphatic political action through acceptance of the reality that the inclusively of the Belfast agreement has spectacularly failed. It’s time to move on without Sinn Fein/IRA. The Government’s promised House of Commons statement next week should signal such action”.