Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announces the appointment of Independent Expert

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, The Rt. Hon. Hilary Benn MP has today announced the appointment of Fleur Ravensbergen to the role of Independent Expert on paramilitary group transition to disbandment. The appointment has been made jointly with Jim O'Callaghan, the Irish Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. 

The Independent Expert will take up the role, within the existing Independent Reporting Commission (IRC) legislative framework, on 23 September 2025 and is expected to complete the scoping and engagement exercise and submit their report by mid-August 2026.

Biography

Fleur Ravensbergen is an independent conflict resolution and negotiation practitioner, and a lecturer in conflict resolution and governance at the University of Amsterdam. She has broad and deep experience of supporting dialogue around the world including in the Middle East, Central Africa and Europe. She is a member of the Peace and Security Commission of the Advisory Council of International Affairs (AIV) which advises the Dutch Government and parliament on peace and security. She serves as the Facilitator for ABN AMRO's Human Rights Grievance and Remedy Mechanism and is an Advisory Council Member for Fight for Humanity - a Geneva-based human rights organisation. Previously she co-founded and was Deputy Director of the Dialogue Advisory Group, an Amsterdam-based NGO that facilitates dialogue in armed conflict. 

Political Activity

All UKG appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees' political activity in defined categories within the last five years to be made public.

The appointee has declared no such political activity in the past five years.

Regulation

This appointment is not regulated by the UK's Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Terms of appointment

The appointment will be for a period of one year. The Independent Expert role attracts a remuneration of £650 per day and is not pensionable. 

Background

The UK Government and the Government of Ireland announced in February 2025 that they would jointly appoint an Independent Expert to carry out a short scoping and engagement exercise to assess whether there is merit in, and support for, a formal process of engagement to bring about paramilitary group transition to disbandment. 

The objective of the Independent Expert is, through independent scoping and engagement, to assess whether there is merit in and support for a formal process that ensures the transition to disbandment of paramilitary groups and to produce a report by mid August 2026. 

The Independent Expert will carry out their work in line with the overarching objectives of the IRC which are:

• promoting progress towards ending paramilitary activity; and
• supporting long term peace and stability in society and stable and inclusive devolved Government in Northern Ireland

In carrying out their functions, the Independent Expert will be mindful throughout of the overarching vision of the Fresh Start Agreement for the “continued transformation of our society,” and the goal of “the primacy of the democratic political process in Northern Ireland and the ending of paramilitarism” as well as the recommitment to tackling paramilitarism made by the parties in the New Decade, New Approach Agreement in 2020.

Functions

To achieve their objective, the Independent Expert will carry out a programme of exploratory engagement with inter alia:

• representatives of communities affected by paramilitarism, including victims of paramilitary activity;
• representatives of wider society in Northern Ireland;
• representatives of the statutory agencies likely to have a role in aspects of implementation of a formal process of engagement with paramilitary groups aimed at facilitating their disbandment;
• representatives of paramilitary groups who have an interest in ending the violence and wider harms caused by paramilitary groups  

To achieve their objective the Independent Expert will consider through this programme of engagement, inter alia, the following:

• Issues that are currently perceived or presented as a barrier and issues that could enable paramilitary group transition to disbandment;
• the advantages and disadvantages of a formal process of engagement with paramilitary groups aimed at facilitating their transition to disbandment;
• the feasibility and advisability of such a formal process;
• levels of willingness to engage in a formal process ;
• expectations of what would be achieved through participation in such a process;
• the issues likely to arise over the course of a formal process of engagement; and
• the extent to which such a process would substantially contribute to furthering the commitments of the Fresh Start Agreement to work collectively to achieve a society free of paramilitarism.

The Independent Expert will produce a report by mid-August 2026 setting out what could be in scope of a formal process that ensures the transition to disbandment of paramilitary groups and the levels of public support for such a process. This should include recommendations on whether there would be merit in establishing a formal process of engagement with paramilitary groups aimed at facilitating their transition towards disbandment, and if so, how such a formal process could be established to have the highest chance of success including in terms of structure, milestones, timeframe and reporting/verification arrangements.

The Independent Expert should reflect in their report, based on what they have heard through their engagement, on alternative or additional approaches which could help promote progress towards ending paramilitary harm and activity and support long term peace and stability in NI and may merit further consideration.

Approach and delivery

In carrying out the functions described above, the Independent Expert will engage the UK Government, the Government of Ireland and respective law enforcement agencies, the NI Executive and other statutory agencies, local councils, political parties, communities, and civic society organisations in order to understand their perspectives on the issue. 

The Independent Expert will have a strong focus in their work on recommendations aimed at promoting and supporting practical, comprehensive and effective trauma-informed measures and initiatives that aim to bring about the continued transformation of society envisioned in the Fresh Start Agreement.

Throughout their scoping and engagement, the Independent Expert should actively encourage the ending of all paramilitary and criminal activity. They should make clear that PSNI and their partners will continue to work to bring those involved in paramilitary criminality to justice and that group behaviours will be taken as an indication of levels of commitment to transition to disbandment, in particular, supporting the police and criminal justice system in tackling criminality, including drug dealing, extortion, and child criminal and sexual exploitation. The Independent Expert should remind their interlocutors that the IRC and others have been clear about the behaviours that would demonstrate a commitment to moving from violence and harm and these include:

• Ending recruitment to paramilitary groups;
• Giving up paramilitary structures and activity;
• Ceasing mobilisation of members; 
• Ceasing to exercise coercive power and control in communities; 
• Ending of all paramilitary style attacks and all other forms of violence, threat of violence or intimidation; 
• Disposal of any remaining weaponry and materiel; 
• Allowing people to exit from paramilitarism without cost or consequence; 
• Publicly supporting the PSNI and criminal justice system in tackling criminality and committing to democracy and the rule of law; and
• Engaging with legacy bodies.