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IRA realises time for war is finished, insists Adams

The Scotsman - Top Stories - IRA realises time for war is finished, insists Adams

FRASER NELSON
POLITICAL EDITOR

Key points
• Gerry Adams and the IRA have agreed the time for war is over
• IRA units have been instructed to disarm and engage in a political process
• Ulster Unionists remain sceptical and await proof

Key quote
"All IRA units have been ordered to dump arms. All volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programmes through exclusively peaceful means," - IRA statement

Story in full AFTER decades of violence, the IRA ended its terrorist campaign for a united Ireland yesterday and pledged to hand over its weapons without any conditions.

Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, said the "time for war" was over and that the IRA had agreed. Both Dublin and London hailed the move as the most momentous peaceful development in the 36 years of the Troubles.

But reaction was more guarded in Northern Ireland, where the news was greeted by Unionists without celebration - Unionist political parties saying they would only be satisfied when IRA pledges were backed up by proof.

The extraordinary chain of events began on Wednesday night, when Sean Kelly, who was found guilty of the 1993 Shankill Road bomb attack that killed nine people, was freed from jail in an apparent deal with the IRA.

At midday yesterday, the IRA released a statement read out by a former prisoner, saying it had agreed to the April request by Mr Adams to give up what he called the "armed campaign".

"All IRA units have been ordered to dump arms. All volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programmes through exclusively peaceful means," it said.

In words which 10 Downing Street said are particularly important, the IRA appeared to call for an end to the racketeering, punishment beatings and drug dealing that the IRA has resorted to since declaring its ceasefire in 1998.

"Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever," the statement said.

Mr Adams insisted the IRA decision was a courageous and confident initiative and history would not be kind to governments which played politics with it. In Dublin he claimed: "There is a time to resist, to stand up and to confront the enemy by arms if necessary. In other words there is a time for war. There is also a time to engage, to reach out and put war behind us."

Mr Blair had been given notice of the statement, and read out a response in No 10 yesterday, hailing a move of "unparalleled magnitude" in the 12-year peace process.

"The instruction in the IRA statement that volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever will be taken as a forthright denunciation of any activity, paramilitary or criminal," he said.

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

The next goal, Mr Blair concluded, was to reconvene the Northern Ireland Assembly which has been suspended for three years in response to ongoing low-level IRA activity.

The Rev Ian Paisley, whose hardline Democratic Unionist Party is now the largest in Northern Ireland, was unmoved yesterday, saying he had long ago stopped raising his hopes on the ground of statements from either the IRA or No 10.

"I've heard it all before. You can wrap it up any way you like or put a ribbon on the top. But it's the action that proves that this has happened," he said. "The whole thing is intended to sell the people a pup."

Sir Reg Empey, who has replaced the more moderate David Trimble as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, said it would be "some time" before devolution returned to Northern Ireland.

His party has been "burnt so many times before", he said. "This is not simply whingeing or being difficult about it. It is being simply factual that we have had so many statements before that haven't been kept."

But there were signs that the proof Unionists seek may emerge in the next few weeks. There were reports yesterday that John de Chastelain, the Canadian general who heads the independent arms decommissioning body, is on the move in Ireland and may soon verify destruction of an arms cache.

But the dissolution of the IRA's organised crime network will be harder to monitor, as it still denies involvement in such activities - especially last December's £22.5 million Northern Bank raid.

Martin McGuinness, deputy Sinn Fein leader, seemed emphatic on this point as he spoke in Washington yesterday. "There is no possibility whatsoever of the IRA engaging in any activity whatsoever which would undermine the historic and momentous nature of the statement," he said.

But Catherine McCartney, whose brother Robert was killed by two IRA men outside a pub in January, said the IRA had not gone far enough.

"It has not spelled out where it stands on those within its ranks who indulge in criminal activity," she said. "It tells them they have to stop it. But it does not say what happens if they don't stop it."

The IRA statement has two notable omissions: it does not say the "war is over" nor does it pledge to disband. But British officials said that the IRA will continue to exist in theory so terrorists cannot take its place.

The Provisional IRA was formed in 1969, when it split from the now-defunct Official IRA. Since then it has killed some 400 soldiers, 800 police officers and 600 civilians.

Its last attack was made ten years ago, in a bomb at Canary Wharf in east London. But the "Continuity IRA" and "Real IRA" remain active, having committed the Omagh bombing in 1998, which killed 28.

Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary, said he had not lost sight of the Continuity IRA and the Real IRA. "They are small, marginalised and isolated, but they still pose a threat," he said. "But they must realise, like the Loyalist groups - who are engaged in a feud and are killing each other - that the old politics is over. We have entered a new Northern Ireland, looking forward to a future free of violence."

The lower ranks of both the republican and Unionist paramilitaries were last night asking whether the IRA leadership had the power to stand down its members.

Jackie McDonald, a UDA brigadier, asked: "How can they say to wee Paddy, on the border with his AK47, who has spent 27 years shooting at soldiers and peelers [police]: 'Give us your AK47. You don't need it any more'? The Green Book [the IRA constitution] said they would never give up an ounce of Semtex or a bullet until they achieve a united Ireland."

Little more political movement in the peace process is expected until the House of Commons reconvenes in October. The May general election bodes ill for power-sharing as it confirmed that voters have gravitated to Rev Paisley's DUP and Mr Adams' Sinn Fein.

Mr Adams said he was ready to open talks with his old adversary. "We are quite prepared to speak to them [the DUP] tomorrow morning," he said.

The Irish government has already claimed that Mr Adams and Mr McGuinness have quit as members of the IRA's ruling "army council". This would place them in a better position to share power in Stormont.

July 29, 2005 at 07:31 PM in IRA | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home