A former police officer has played down the capabilities of loyalist terrorist organisations in carrying out a large-scale attack or assassination attempt against Irish politicians.
It follows the publication of a letter from the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), an umbrella group that represents the UDA, UVF and Red Hand Commando.
The letter had warned that Irish politicians should not visit Northern Ireland and of "dire consequences" if joint British-Irish authority became a reality in the absence of Stormont.
Read more: Northern Ireland Office responds to Loyalist Communities Council warning letter
Ken Pennington is a former PSNI Superintendent and uses his experience from his policing days to provide expert counter-terrorism guidance across the world.
"Not all of those groups are homogenous and some have different abilities and techniques," he said.
"But typically, all of those groups descended into being organised crime gangs, they're criminals with a flag of convenience.
"In terms of their capabilities, they've never really had the technical skills that you would have seen in Republican terrorist organisations, not that some terrorist attacks take an awful lot."
Mr Pennington warned that any threat coming from loyalist terrorists was more likely to be around disruption.
"They will have access to weapons, but my take on them is probably the biggest threat they represent is what they will do to organised street violence," he said.
"They'll get young people involved, who'll find themselves on the wrong side of the court system and all the rest of that, and the people in the shadows will walk away from them or try and cut some sort of deal."
Having worked in close protection units that ensured the safety of the likes of members of the Royal Family, Mr Pennington said the key to ensuring the safety of visiting politicians lay in planning and not publicising details of visits too far in advance.
He also advised those in positions of influence to use their voices to try and reconcile people rather than stoking up tensions.
"Although we're saying relations are at a low, it has been lower," he said.
"The PSNI has a lot of experience working through difficult times with different factions.
"I really wouldn't be too concerned about the political side of it - they can make their statements and if they're deemed to be too provocative then that could brush up against criminal law obviously.
"But people can use their office as much to calm things as they can to exacerbate them so it's a time for calm words.
"You've got to think about what you say in public and how that might be interpreted by a 17 or 18-year-old on the streets of Belfast or Londonderry, you've got to think about what you're saying."
Another security source, who did not wish to be named, told Belfast Live there was a feeling among loyalists that Republican groups had used the looming threat of violence as a manner of leverage to get what they wanted before.
"The loyalist frustration about lack of recognition or position is real," the source said.
"They believe Republicans used and continue to use undisguised threats when negotiating all topics. The loyalist view is that, should they be ignored, they will adopt the actions which are proven to make everyone sit up and take them seriously.
"This is with the belief this will provide leverage in future debates and negotiations. It takes all sides of all communities to move forward."
The source warned that while they agreed the skills of loyalist terrorists were not a cause for concern, that they should not be discounted because of that.
"Their technical abilities are not sophisticated, however, are nonetheless serious, deadly and should be treated as such .
"The threat, as crude as it may be, is real."
At a meeting of the Policing Board on Thursday, Chief Constable Simon Byrne said they were aware of tensions within loyalist communities relating to the Northern Ireland Protocol and had looked at the letter published by the LCC.
“Whilst there are evidently tensions and palpable frustration within loyalism over the Northern Ireland Protocol we have not to date seen any corroboration of a heightened threat of violence and disorder from loyalist paramilitaries,” Mr Byrne said.
“We are far from complacent on this and will continue to remain vigilant working closely with our partners and the wider community to proactively monitor community sentiment, tensions, and the capability and intent of proscribed organisations.”
“Inevitably because of some of the narrative that flows from it, we have looked at the letters to see if criminality flows from what is in them. We would say not on legal advice.
“We want to make sure that the assets at our disposal are being used to their fullest intent to make sure we have got full sight of a planned campaign, if that’s what people are intent on doing, but equally giving reassurances to communities and make sure we are not talking up the rhetoric ourselves.
“We don’t assess in the short term any imminent capacity and capability to carry out some of the planned attacks that have been talked about in the media.”
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