The speculative timetable for the disbandment/stand-down of the UVF seems to have slipped back. Earlier on the year a major announcement was muted for the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Somme but this has now been abandoned. Although, the PUP have expressed their disappointment with the proposed government package it is not highlighted as a reason for delay but the attempt to appease nationalist concerns about a shadow Assembly with promises of Joint Authority as Plan B has raised loyalist hackles.
The scepticism of how genuine the present process is among loyalist paramilitaries is not restricted to nationalism with the DUP deciding to maintain a distance but the present consultations and debates are the most in-depth and persistent loyalists paramilitaries have undertaken so far.
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