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A recently opened business faced immediate threats from paramilitary groups demanding protection payments, according to a shop owner who spoke anonymously to BBC News NI. The owner recounted how right after setting up shop, two men approached and insisted she pay for protection, warning that refusal could lead to deadly consequences. “My friend told me we would be killed if we didn’t pay,” the owner revealed, highlighting the grim reality faced by many local traders.
This type of extortion involves coerced payments made by business owners to paramilitary groups, which supposedly offer protection from harm or property damage in return. Despite coming more than 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement, the practice remains widespread in Northern Ireland. Justice Minister Naomi Long has condemned these demands as a suffocating “stranglehold on the community,” emphasizing the ongoing climate of intimidation that hampers people from seeking help or reporting crimes. Businesses on high streets and construction sites reportedly continue to pay out under threat, perpetuating a culture of fear.
Minister Long shared accounts from her own constituency in east Belfast, where a shopkeeper had been told they needed “protection from us”—a chilling admission that paramilitaries themselves pose the danger. She challenged these groups, many of whom profess a desire to disband, to genuinely exit by ceasing their coercive and exploitative actions. Long stressed the importance of ending the racketeering and intimidation in order to create safer conditions for local businesses and communities.
Authorities have responded to these concerns, with the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI) Organised Crime Branch affirming that intimidation and extortion will not be tolerated. Detective Chief Superintendent Emma Neill highlighted how paramilitaries wield fear and violence to control communities but acknowledged that victims are often too frightened to come forward. She urged those affected to report such crimes, reassuring that all involved in racketeering and extortion will face prosecution. The ongoing justice bill currently being considered in the Assembly seeks to strengthen legislation against organised crime, promising tougher penalties for offenders
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