Recommendation 1

The term ‘paramilitarism’ is complex and contested in Northern Ireland. We heard how use of the term can risk romanticising the presence of gangs who engage in overt criminality and attempt to exercise coercive control over the communities they seek to prey upon. At the same time, however, terms such as organised crime gangs can fail to capture the complex historical and political context which leads to these groups remaining embedded in communities. Following evidence we heard, we decided to rename our inquiry from ‘the effect of paramilitaries on society in Northern Ireland’ to ‘the effect of paramilitary activity and organised crime on society in Northern Ireland’. We did so to make clear the criminal nature of many of the activities undertaken by paramilitary groups and to take account of evidence we had received outlining the potential social capital that can be conferred on individuals involved in criminality when they are referred to as ‘paramilitaries’. (Paragraph 14) Societal effects of paramilitary activity and organised crime