Carol Nolan
Question:381. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Justice to provide a list of all organisations or groups designated as terrorist organisations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44760/23]
View answerTuesday, 17 October 2023
Questions (381)
Written answers
Under the Offences Against the State Act 1939, the State's primary counter-terrorism legislation, there are two means by which an organisation may be proscribed as unlawful for the purposes of that Act.
Firstly, an organisation which engages in any of the activities specified in section 18 of the 1939 Act is declared to be an unlawful organisation for the purposes of that Act. Such activities include, inter alia , raising or maintaining or attempting to raise or maintain a military or armed force in contravention of the Constitution.
Secondly, an organisation may be declared to be unlawful by way of Government order pursuant to section 19(1) of the 1939 Act where the Government are of the opinion that the organisation concerned is an unlawful organisation and ought, in the public interest, to be suppressed.
Only two such orders were made to date in 1939 and 1983 which suppress, respectively, the organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army (also the IRA and Óglaigh na hÉireann) and the the organisation styling itself the Irish National Liberation Order (also the I.N.L.A.). It has been held by the Courts that labels such as "official", "real," or provisional" are immaterial to whether a group comes within the relevant order.
However, it is important to note that section 5 of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005, which was enacted with particular application to international terrorism, ensures that any organisation which engages in terrorist activity or terrorist-linked activity is an unlawful organisation within the meaning and for the purposes of the 1939 Act. This is the case whether the organisation is in or outside the State or whether the activity occurs in or outside the State. It is therefore unnecessary to designate an entity for this purpose.
The Deputy may also wish to be aware that since 2001, the European Union has established a list of persons, groups and entities involved in terrorist acts and subject to restrictive measures or sanctions. The list includes 13 persons and 21 groups and entities. The list of groups/entities is set out in Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1505.