Assembly speaker Edwin Poots has described loyalist paramilitary groups as “little more than old men’s clubs”.
The South Belfast MLA said proscribed groups such as the UDA and UVF were “not what they used to be”.
He was speaking in relation to recent racially motivated violence and disorder in his constituency, saying your home or business should not be attacked because of the colour of your skin or your religion.
Last week Mr Poots declined to condemn the most recent racist attack in his constituency when invited to by the Irish News.
Police said last Monday’s attack, the latest in series of incidents in South Belfast in which ethnic minorities or their businesses have been targeted, was racially-motivated. A motorcycle was burned and a property damaged on Frenchpark Street in the Village area.
In the aftermath of anti-immigration-related street disorder earlier this month, Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones said she was in “no doubt there is a paramilitary element” involved.
Mr Poots said he had spoken to the leaders of paramilitary groups to establish whether they had been involved in the recent violence.
“They were very clear right from the outset that this wasn’t to happen, and they were supporting it,” he told the BBC.
“And that goes back before that Saturday (August 3), and they were encouraging their own people not to attend, but individually people are doing that.”
He said a “number of these paramilitary organisations are little more than old men’s clubs – they are not what they used to be”.
Asked if he believed loyalist paramilitaries were involved, Mr Poots responded: “Certainly more significant, you know, organisations in South Belfast ... are not active in that sense.
“But that’s not to say that because loyalist paramilitaries are so subdivided now, that there isn’t individuals from breakaways or factions that aren’t involved.”
The speaker said attacks on the homes of people from ethnic minorities were “counterproductive... and unrepresentative of unionism”.
“It doesn’t matter the colour your skin or the place that you worship, you shouldn’t have your home attacked for that, you shouldn’t have your business attacked for that,” he said.
