Provisional IRA Has ‘Largely Disbanded’ but Paramilitaries Have Not Gone Away: Expert

'Underbelly of harm' remains in many parts of Northern Ireland

A young boy plays near a loyalist paramilitary mural on the day that the new Loyalist Community Council was launched at the Park Avenue Hotel, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Oct. 13, 2015. Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

The Provisional IRA has been “largely disbanded” but Irish republican dissident groups and loyalist paramilitaries remain a sinister and criminal presence in many parts of Northern Ireland, according to an expert.

U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Belfast on Tuesday night for a five-day tour of the island of Ireland timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement which brought The Troubles to an end.