The IRA army council still remains intact and is unlikely formally to disband in the foreseeable future, according to the PSNI’s most senior intelligence analyst.

The politically sensitive assessment from assistant chief constable Peter Sheridan comes as the British and Irish governments ask the Independent Monitoring Commission to report on the existence of the army council by September 1 and the DUP demands its dissolution.

Sheridan says the council is not replacing those who die or resign, but predicts it will be years before it “withers” through natural wastage.

Last night a senior source in garda intelligence went further, saying the IRA had recruited in recent years and still held arms despite decommissioning. He believed it was maintained in “shadow form”, was encouraging members to train in foreign armies and was capable of attacks.

“It has reduced in size but it is there,” the source said. “The organisation is dedicated to following a political path but it will not disband to the point where it could not carry out an operation if it needed to.”

His words echo the assessment of the IMC in February 2006 when it said the IRA retained “a range of weapons and ammunition” beyond that needed for self-protection.

Sheridan, whose crime operations department has overall responsibility for intelligence and analysis in the PSNI, believed the remnants of the IRA would be around for years to come, but stressed: “They aren’t a security threat.”

The assessment will still infuriate the DUP, which is demanding the dissolution of IRA structures before agreeing to devolution of policing and justice powers to the assembly.

“Significant progress has been made but we will not be content until every vestige of IRA structures has gone,” said Jeffrey Donaldson, the party’s security spokesman.

But Anthony McIntyre, a former IRA commander, said: “I don’t believe Ireland has seen its last IRA murder.”

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