- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 110
BELFAST, Northern Ireland (CP) - The Irish Republican Army announced Thursday it is renouncing violence as a political weapon and resuming disarmament in a dramatic declaration designed to revive Northern Ireland's peace process.
The IRA said all of its clandestine units had been ordered to place their weapons in arms dumps and cease all activities, effective at 4 p.m. (11 a.m. EDT), but would not formally disband.
"The leadership has formally ordered an end to the armed campaign," the IRA said in a major advance from its opened-ended truce in place since 1997.
"All volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programs through exclusively peaceful means. Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever," the IRA command said in remarks addressed to the group's approximately 500 to 1,000 members.
The IRA statement said John de Chastelain, a retired Canadian general who since 1997 has been trying to persuade the IRA and other illegal groups to disarm, would be invited to decommission more hidden weapons bunkers soon. It said a Roman Catholic priest and Protestant minister would be invited to witness the scrapping of weapons.
In a statement issued by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, de Chastelain said the commission "takes note of the IRA statement and has re-engaged with the representative with a view to completing its mandate to decommission IRA arms."
A commission spokesman said de Chastelain was not available for further comment.
The IRA appealed to Britain and Northern Ireland's Protestant majority to accept its new position as sufficient to renew negotiations on power-sharing, the core goal of the 1998 peace accord for this British territory.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart, Bertie Ahern, warmly praised the IRA's announcement.
"I welcome the recognition that the only route to political change lies in exclusively peaceful and democratic means," Blair said at his office in London. "This is a step of unparalleled magnitude in the recent history of Northern Ireland."
Ahern, who has closely worked with Blair since 1997 to broker compromise in the British territory, said the statement heralded "the end of the IRA as a paramilitary organization."
"If the IRA's words are borne out by verified actions, it will be a momentous and historic development," Ahern said.
Canada was also quick to welcome the IRA statement.
"Canada has long supported the efforts of all parties to bring peace and reconciliation to the people of Northern Ireland," said Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew Pettigrew.
He called the decision an unprecedented opportunity to advance the peace process.
"We are pleased to add our voice of support to the already strong endorsements given by the governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland to today's commitment by the IRA," Pettigrew added.
But Protestant leaders in Northern Ireland, deeply suspicious of IRA motives, stressed they would wait several months to test whether the IRA's words proved true. They noted the IRA was supposed to have disarmed fully by mid-2000 as part of the Good Friday accord, but did not start the process until late 2001 and stopped in 2003.
Ian Paisley, whose hardline Democratic Unionist party represents most Protestants, said IRA commanders "have failed to explicitly declare an end to their multimillion-pound criminal activity, and they have failed to provide the level of transparency that will be necessary to truly build confidence that the guns have gone in their entirety."
Security experts say the IRA retains much of its arsenal hidden in underground bunkers in the neighbouring Republic of Ireland. The IRA received more than 130 tonnes of armaments from Libya in the mid-1980s, and police say the group continues to smuggle modern weaponry into the country.
All sides say they remain committed to resurrecting a joint Catholic-Protestant administration that would replace Britain as the primary government authority in Northern Ireland. But Protestants insist they won't work again with Sinn Fein, the IRA-linked party, until the IRA disappears as a threat to stability.
A four-party coalition led by Protestant and Catholic moderates gained power in 1999, but it fell apart in 2002 amid chronic arguments about IRA activities and arms.
Resurrecting power-sharing became more difficult in 2003 once voters - polarized by the diplomatic deadlock - shifted support to the opposite extremes of opinion: Gerry Adams' Sinn Fein on the Irish Catholic side and Paisley's Democratic Unionists on the British Protestant side.
A potential power-sharing pact between this unlikely couple fell apart in December when the IRA refused Protestant demands for disarmament to be recorded for public consumption. The IRA also rejected demands, chiefly levelled by the Irish government and Catholic moderates, for the IRA to renounce crime and accept the legitimacy of Northern Ireland's police force.
The British and Irish governments united behind the position that power-sharing couldn't be restored unless the IRA fully disarmed and went out of business - disbanding in practice if not in name.
Erin Go Bragh!!!!!!!
The IRA said all of its clandestine units had been ordered to place their weapons in arms dumps and cease all activities, effective at 4 p.m. (11 a.m. EDT), but would not formally disband.
"The leadership has formally ordered an end to the armed campaign," the IRA said in a major advance from its opened-ended truce in place since 1997.
"All volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programs through exclusively peaceful means. Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever," the IRA command said in remarks addressed to the group's approximately 500 to 1,000 members.
The IRA statement said John de Chastelain, a retired Canadian general who since 1997 has been trying to persuade the IRA and other illegal groups to disarm, would be invited to decommission more hidden weapons bunkers soon. It said a Roman Catholic priest and Protestant minister would be invited to witness the scrapping of weapons.
In a statement issued by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, de Chastelain said the commission "takes note of the IRA statement and has re-engaged with the representative with a view to completing its mandate to decommission IRA arms."
A commission spokesman said de Chastelain was not available for further comment.
The IRA appealed to Britain and Northern Ireland's Protestant majority to accept its new position as sufficient to renew negotiations on power-sharing, the core goal of the 1998 peace accord for this British territory.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart, Bertie Ahern, warmly praised the IRA's announcement.
"I welcome the recognition that the only route to political change lies in exclusively peaceful and democratic means," Blair said at his office in London. "This is a step of unparalleled magnitude in the recent history of Northern Ireland."
Ahern, who has closely worked with Blair since 1997 to broker compromise in the British territory, said the statement heralded "the end of the IRA as a paramilitary organization."
"If the IRA's words are borne out by verified actions, it will be a momentous and historic development," Ahern said.
Canada was also quick to welcome the IRA statement.
"Canada has long supported the efforts of all parties to bring peace and reconciliation to the people of Northern Ireland," said Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew Pettigrew.
He called the decision an unprecedented opportunity to advance the peace process.
"We are pleased to add our voice of support to the already strong endorsements given by the governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland to today's commitment by the IRA," Pettigrew added.
But Protestant leaders in Northern Ireland, deeply suspicious of IRA motives, stressed they would wait several months to test whether the IRA's words proved true. They noted the IRA was supposed to have disarmed fully by mid-2000 as part of the Good Friday accord, but did not start the process until late 2001 and stopped in 2003.
Ian Paisley, whose hardline Democratic Unionist party represents most Protestants, said IRA commanders "have failed to explicitly declare an end to their multimillion-pound criminal activity, and they have failed to provide the level of transparency that will be necessary to truly build confidence that the guns have gone in their entirety."
Security experts say the IRA retains much of its arsenal hidden in underground bunkers in the neighbouring Republic of Ireland. The IRA received more than 130 tonnes of armaments from Libya in the mid-1980s, and police say the group continues to smuggle modern weaponry into the country.
All sides say they remain committed to resurrecting a joint Catholic-Protestant administration that would replace Britain as the primary government authority in Northern Ireland. But Protestants insist they won't work again with Sinn Fein, the IRA-linked party, until the IRA disappears as a threat to stability.
A four-party coalition led by Protestant and Catholic moderates gained power in 1999, but it fell apart in 2002 amid chronic arguments about IRA activities and arms.
Resurrecting power-sharing became more difficult in 2003 once voters - polarized by the diplomatic deadlock - shifted support to the opposite extremes of opinion: Gerry Adams' Sinn Fein on the Irish Catholic side and Paisley's Democratic Unionists on the British Protestant side.
A potential power-sharing pact between this unlikely couple fell apart in December when the IRA refused Protestant demands for disarmament to be recorded for public consumption. The IRA also rejected demands, chiefly levelled by the Irish government and Catholic moderates, for the IRA to renounce crime and accept the legitimacy of Northern Ireland's police force.
The British and Irish governments united behind the position that power-sharing couldn't be restored unless the IRA fully disarmed and went out of business - disbanding in practice if not in name.
Erin Go Bragh!!!!!!!