It is approaching 30 years since the main republican and loyalist groups announced ceasefires which were supposed to bring a permanent end to paramilitary activity in all sections of our divided society.
The initiatives helped to prepare the way for the signing of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, and there was certainly a strong mood of optimism surrounding the statements by the IRA, in August 1994, and by what was referred to as the Combined Loyalist Military Command a matter of weeks later.
It was a tragedy that all the illegal bodies subsequently made sporadic returns to violence, claiming many more innocent lives before they realised that they were acting against the mood of the times and their campaigns effectively faded away.
However, splinter republican groups continued to maintain at least some form of presence, while their main loyalist counterparts switched their focus from sectarian attacks to extortion and intimidation within their own communities.
There can only be concern that, as this newspaper has been reporting, the organisation calling itself Óglaigh na hÉireann (ONH) is attempting to restructure under what is regarded as a more hardline leadership.
ONH has been maintaining what it claims to be a cessation of “armed actions against the British state” but it is known to have engaged both in bitter internal feuds and the targeting of alleged drug dealers.
The lack of any coherent thinking behind ONH has been emphasised by declarations that it had severed all connections with Republican Network for Unity, the small party which was previously said to be its political wing.
There will also be growing alarm that one of the largest loyalist organisations, the UVF, blatantly coordinated a very public show of strength on the streets of east Belfast over the weekend.
An annual demonstration had been approved by the Parades Commission in the Newtownards Road district on Saturday night, but up to 1,500 people, many wearing white shirts and black ties, assembled along the route.
It is believed that the provocative display was part of increasing tensions between different factions within the UVF, and may have been intended to send a message to east Belfast figures that the power base of the group was still in the Shankill district.
The vast majority of ordinary citizens will be astonished by the audacity of those on both the loyalist and republican sides who should have left the stage decades ago but somehow still believe that they can publicly threaten their perceived opponents
The vast majority of ordinary citizens will be astonished by the audacity of those on both the loyalist and republican sides who should have left the stage decades ago but somehow still believe that they can publicly threaten their perceived opponents.
We face many problems across our society but none of them will be solved by the likes of ONH and the UVF, and there will be an expectation that the authorities will respond firmly to the recent menacing developments.
