Paramilitary ‘element’ suspected in Belfast rioting following Southport stabbingsSource: PA
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00:00work with those affected and those minority groups. In relation to the second question,
00:06we have an open mind of who is orchestrating and organising this. What we saw last night we feel
00:13was different from what we saw on Saturday. On Saturday we saw mainly older adult people
00:20who became involved in disorder. Last night it was clear to us that there was a younger element,
00:26teenagers mainly, who were involved in the disorder but there was an element of organisation
00:33and orchestration from what appeared to be older adults present at the scene. In relation to your
00:39last question about paramilitary influence, I have no doubt there is a paramilitary element to this
00:46but I am not in a position to say that this is the main organiser or orchestrator of these events.
00:52However, we do keep an open mind to this and this will be part of our investigative strategy.
01:01Yes, we have a widespread investigation ongoing both to deal with what we have seen happen but
01:08also to identify who is responsible for orchestrating, organising and stirring up
01:14violence and disorder in the background. So that is an active line of investigation.
01:19We continue to work with colleagues across the UK to make sure that we are picking up on anything
01:24that is relevant here from their investigations and their intelligence gathering. In relation to
01:30the question about paramilitaries, we know that we have some elements still remaining in our
01:35communities that will use the history of Northern Ireland to stir up violence and promote division
01:43and intolerance and we believe that that played some part in what we have seen in the past three
01:49days. However, we remain open-minded about other elements that are instigating and orchestrating
01:56those as well.