IRA formally announces disarmament

Caracarn · #1 (**permalink**) 07-28-2005, 07:30 AM

The Irish Republican Army will end its armed campaign against British rule. They will enter fully into the political and democratic process. Things have calmed down considerably in Northern Ireland after decades of violence perpetuated by both the British government and Irish nationalists.
But the issue of independence is still to be sorted out. There is a strong Unionist faction that wants the area to remain British.

Quote:

IRA vows to end armed campaign

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- The IRA has announced that it will resume disarmament and that it has ordered its members to end its armed campaign to end British rule.

The order took effect at 1500 GMT on Thursday.

But the IRA, which has observed a cease-fire since 1997, did not say it would formally disband.

British Prime Minister called the statement a "step of unparalleled magnitude", but unionists said they wanted proof the IRA was serious.

In a lengthy statement, the outlawed group 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 the British territory.

"The leadership has formally ordered an end to the armed campaign," the statement said. (Full statement)

"All volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programmes through exclusively peaceful means."

It added that "volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever," a phrase which is being interpreted as referring to alleged criminal activity.

The statement said the IRA had authorised a representative to work with the Independent International Commission of Decommissioning (IIDC) to complete the process of putting weapons beyond use.

There was "very strong support" among IRA volunteers for Sinn Fein's peace strategy, the statement said, but added there was widespread concern about the "failure" of the British and Irish governments and unionists to "fully engage in the peace process".

It said the majority of people in Ireland wanted to see the full implementation of the 1998 Good Friday peace accord, and it now accepted its goals could be achieved by political means.

"We reiterate our view that the armed struggle was entirely legitimate," it said.

But the statement stopped short of issuing an apology for the killings that took place during the armed campaign, saying instead: "We are conscious that many people suffered in the conflict."

CNN's Europe political editor Robin Oakley said the statement gave no timetable of the IRA's disarmament, or whether it would agree to supplying photographic proof.

"We have got the words here, which indicate an act of closure from the IRA. But the issue now is whether the IRA lives up to that promise on the ground," he said.

He said it was also unclear whether republican splinter groups would fill the void left by the IRA's move.

Decommissioning
Welcoming the statement, Blair said decommissioning must take place as soon as possible.

"This may be the day when finally, after all the false dawns and dashed hopes, peace replaced war, politics replaces terror," he said.

"This is in a different order to anything before. This is what we have striven for in the last eight years since the Good Friday Peace Agreement."

Irish taoiseach Berie Ahern 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," he said.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams called the statement "courageous".

"There is an enormous responsibility on us to seize this moment," he said.

"There is now no possible excuse for the British and Irish governments to not fully and faithfully implement the Good Friday Agreement."

But the Democratic Unionists, the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland, said the statement did not go far enough.

"They have failed to explicitly declare an end to their multi-million-pound criminal activity and have failed to provide the level of transparency that would be necessary to truly build confidence that the guns had gone in their entirety," a DUP statement said.

Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said: "I can't take any statement from the Republican movement at face value because we've had that many of them in the past," he said. "Let's see what happens to the weapons. Let's see what happens on the ground."

John Hume, a moderate Catholic politician in Northern Ireland, said: "The real duty now, if we want to have a totally peaceful and stable country, is for all true democrats to implement the will of the people."

Speaking on CNN, the U.S. special envoy for Northern Ireland, Mitchell Reiss, said Thursday's statement was "encouraging", but time would tell if it was "truly historic".

Speculation that a statement was imminent had intensified on Wednesday night after the British government released from jail one of the IRA's most infamous bombers, Sean Kelly.

Kelly was once sentenced to life imprisonment for killing nine civilians in a fish shop bomb in Belfast in 1993.

Hopes of restoring power sharing in Northern Ireland fell apart in December when the IRA refused to allow its disarmament to be publicly recorded.

The IRA was supposed to have disarmed fully by mid-2000, but did not start the process until October 2001 and has insisted that any details of its partial disarmament be kept secret.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe...ira.statement/

catzmeow · #2 (**permalink**) 07-28-2005, 07:33 AM

Quote:

The IRA was supposed to have disarmed fully by mid-2000, but did not start the process until October 2001 and has insisted that any details of its partial disarmament be kept secret.

Why should we believe them now?

#3 (**permalink**) 07-28-2005, 01:40 PM

All the focus has been on what the PIRA is or is not doing, but in reality, the loyalist terror groups are the ones currently killing people.

And catzmeow, please tell me, a republican living in Derry, why I should trust either the unionists/loyalists or the British government that they are interested in any real powersharing this time around?

catzmeow · #4 (**permalink**) 07-29-2005, 11:41 AM

It's kind of like the whole israeli/palestinian thing...I am starting to believe that y'all deserve each other.

Caracarn · #5 (**permalink**) 07-29-2005, 04:07 PM

kimmy, thanks for giving us a bit of insight into your homeland. I'd appreciate if you could tell us more about the subject of power-sharing there...the history and current status.
Let's hope that no one, including the Unionists, undermines the progress. I understand the British army dismantled some of its watchposts today (see below). Obviously they believe the IRA, as I do.

As for the suggestion that it's "kinda like the whole Israeli/Palestinian thing", I'm sure I share your view that it's a terrible suggestion. There were no suicide bombings in Ireland or Britain during The Troubles. Though it's divided along Catholics and Protestants, the violence was not due to religious fanaticism. The only thing that IS similar is the fact that both lands are occupied (though the degree of oppression is much lower for the Irish).

You have it much better now than when I visited Derry in 1990, when the Army still patrolled, checkpoints dotted the area and barricades divided the city.

Quote:

UK army pulls down N.Irish watchposts to aid peace
2005-07-29
By Jodie Ginsberg

BELFAST (Reuters) - Britain began dismantling Northern Ireland army watchposts on Friday after a pledge by Irish republican guerrillas to lay down arms revived peace efforts in the province.

The move made good on commitments by Britain and Ireland to carry out promises delayed by the Irish Republican Army's past failure to disarm and came as work resumed to secure a political deal that would restore a suspended regional government.

Pulling down eight hill-top watchtowers along the Irish border is one of the actions long demanded by Irish nationalists to normalize life in a province slowly emerging from a 30-year conflict in which 3,600 people were killed.

"In light of yesterday's developments, the Chief Constable and I have decided that a further reduction in (our) security profile is possible," General Commanding Officer Reddy Watt said.

The move put pressure on the IRA to fulfil its side of the deal by dumping the huge arsenal of guns and explosives that sustained its fight for a united Ireland until a 1997 ceasefire.

Martin McGuinness, chief negotiator for the province's main Catholic party, welcomed the dismantling of the watchtowers.

"(It) keeps the momentum of this going and clearly shows that people are prepared to make a very determined effort," he told a National Committee on American Foreign Policy lunch in New York.

The IRA's pro-British Protestant opponents are skeptical it will match its words with action given previous broken promises.

"We've heard it all before," a Belfast man, whose father was a policeman during the "troubles," told Reuters.

"Why should we believe them now?"

The IRA has given no timetable but The Irish Times quoted government sources on Friday as saying Dublin hoped the IRA's entire arsenal, which it said has been centralized in a number of munitions dumps, could be destroyed by the end of August.

The newspaper said there were "strong indications" the first act of decommissioning could be days away.

SCEPTICISM

The IRA, responsible for half of the killings during the conflict, has never said how big its arms cache is and many doubt the group will be able to persuade all of its members to give up weapons and the power -- and money -- they can bring.

Delivering sufficient proof is likely to take months.

The Independent Monitoring Commission, a watchdog that will check whether the IRA has met its promises, will give a special progress report in January. It said paramilitaries needed to show they had stopped all violence, recruiting or training members, or intimidating people.

Both pro-British loyalist and Irish nationalist guerrilla groups often carry out "punishment" beatings such as shootings through hands or knees to control their members or communities.

Much further off is any revival of a local assembly put on ice three years ago over the IRA's reluctance to scrap its arms. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refuses to talk to Sinn Fein until the IRA disarms fully.

"We will judge the IRA's bona fides over the next months and years based on its behavior and activity," said firebrand cleric Ian Paisley, leader of the DUP.

But Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams was hopeful.

"There is no reason why the institutions cannot be in place today ... I think this is something they (DUP) need to get their heads around ... there is no reason why they cannot engage directly, face to face with Sinn Fein," he told reporters.

President Bush spoke to Adams on Friday by phone and urged him to show leadership, a White House spokesman said. On Thursday Bush urged Paisley "to give the IRA the opportunity to live up to what they said they will do."

Changes in policing will be key once the IRA downs the arms.

"People are starting to say that's the issue now," said Neil Jarman of the Institute for Conflict Research in Belfast. "It's not just a political issue, it's going to be a practical necessity on the ground."

The IRA's historic mistrust of the mainly Protestant police force was always used to justify its armed presence in its Catholic strongholds and Sinn Fein has so far refused to take seats to which it is entitled on the province's policing board.

© Copyright 2005, Reuters

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kr...ICLE_ID=801427

lardbeetle · #6 (**permalink**) 08-01-2005, 08:23 PM

thedreamer · #7 (**permalink**) 08-05-2005, 02:16 PM

It would be nice if peace occured in the six counties, most everyone wants it, save certain Unionists and some Republicans who are making too good a life from criminal activities.
Kimmy a chara can I ask your political persuasion?

nawbut · #8 (**permalink**) 08-06-2005, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catzmeow";p=&quot

It's kind of like the whole israeli/palestinian thing...I am starting to believe that y'all deserve each other.

Israeli, Palestinian, Irish, Ulster Unionists; all squabbling about tradition, homeland, cultural identity, repression and ethnic cleansing...why cant they blow the living hell out of the planet on sensible premises...like commerce!

MRMAGQQ · #9 (**permalink**) 08-06-2005, 06:58 AM

Give up drinking and fighting? No way!

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode