LONDON (Reuters) -The British government froze the assets of the Irish nationalist militant group, the New IRA, and Kieran Gallagher on Thursday, saying it had reasonable grounds to suspect that he was involved in terrorist activity.
“This action is the second use of the Treasury-led domestic counter-terrorism regime to target Northern Ireland-related terrorism,” Lucy Rigby, economic secretary to the Treasury, said in the statement.
“These designations reflect this government’s continued commitment to protecting the peaceful consensus of the people of Northern Ireland.”
The New IRA is one of a small number of active militant groups opposed to Northern Ireland’s 1998 peace deal. It has been behind some of the sporadic attacks that have continued, including the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in 2019.
The government also imposed director disqualification sanctions on Gallagher, prohibiting him from acting as a director of a company or directly or indirectly taking part in or being concerned in the promotion, formation or management of a company.
(Reporting by Muvija M; Editing by Kate Holton)
