Stormont: Peter Robinson returns as First Minister following paramilitary report
Democratic Unionist ministers, including First Minister Peter Robinson, who resigned from the Stormont Executive in the wake of an IRA linked murder, are to return to office following the publication of a Government ordered review of paramilitaries activities in Northern Ireland.
An independent assessment found that all the main republican and loyalist groups, including the Provisional IRA, still exist "in a much reduced form" but that their leaders are committed to peace.
The report, commissioned after the murder of ex-IRA member Kevin McGuigan in August goes on to say an IRA "Provisional Army Council" oversees Sinn Fein's strategy - a claim the party's leaders vehemently deny.
Sinn Fein's deputy first minister at Stormont Martin McGuinness responded to the report, saying:
DUP First Minister Peter Robinson stepped down last month at the height of the political crisis, along with three other other Executive ministers from the party.
In a statement, the DUP said it accepted the "entirety" of the report's findings, describing them as "frank and informative".
Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers outlined the paramilitary report's findings to Parliament. It found that all the main paramilitary groups had committed murders since the ceasefires of the 1990s but stressed that they were not engaged in or planning terrorist activities.
The Ulster Unionist Party said the findings of the independent report on paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland "entirely and totally" vindicated a withdrawal from the power-sharing political institutions.
Leader Mike Nesbitt said the assessment from the police and intelligence agencies made clear the existence of the IRA, and whilst the UUP would continue in crisis talks to resolve the current impasse, he cautioned it may only be "short term".
"We will not respect the mandate of a Provisional army council, of unnamed shadowy individuals previously responsible for the most lethal terrorist force on planet earth."
Meanwhile, the SDLP said it was not surprised by the panel's findings.
The Stormont crisis: A timeline
The current political crisis started with the murder of well-known republican and former IRA commander Gerard "Jock" Davison in Belfast in May.
5 May 2015: Gerard Davison, 57 was shot dead in Belfast as he walked to work.
12 August: Kevin McGuigan, 53, with former ties to the IRA was gunned down close to his home. He was understood to have been involved in a long-running personal feud with Mr Davison, prompting widespread speculation that it was a revenge attack.
13 August: Stormont's First Minister and Democratic Unionist leader Peter Robinson warns Sinn Fein it was face expulsion from the power-sharing Executive if the IRA were responsible for the death of Mr McGuigan.
18 August: Four men including an IRA bomber are arrested by detectives over the murder of Mr McGuigan.
20 August: Northern Ireland police chief says he believes provisional IRA members were behind the murder of Mr McGuigan - a view rejected by Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams.
24 August: Ulster Unionist Party announces its intention to resign from the Executive.
September: Talks between Northern Ireland party leaders and Theresa Villiers commence in an effort to resolve the crisis. A number of DUP ministers resign during this period.
20 October: Theresa Villiers informs parliament of the findings of an the independent review panel into paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. DUP Ministers and their leader, Peter Robinson, agree to resume their duties in parliament.
The independent review was conducted by former reviewer of UK terror laws Lord Carlile of Berriew; Rosalie Flanagan, a former permanent secretary at Stormont's Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure; and Northern Ireland-based QC Stephen Shaw.