Republican News · Thursday 25 October 2001

Positive reaction to IRA initiative

BY MICHAEL PIERSE

Reaction to the IRA's statement on Tuesday night was overwhelmingly positive, most notably in terms of the response from UUP leader David Trimble.

It had been widely anticipated that a begrudging or negative response from Trimble and the UUP leadership would be disastrous for the peace process. However, Trimble's response and that of the UUP has, thus far, been positive.

"This is the day we were told would never happen. This is the day we were told we would never see," Trimble said.

"This is clear evidence that we have been looking for of republican commitment to the full implementation of the agreement and it will re-establish public confidence that our problems can be solved by political dialogue and working inclusively in the institutions."

Also, significantly, Trimble weighed in behind the de Chastelain Commission and said that it was up to it to deal with the resolution of the arms issue. At a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Party Executive, which will be convened in the coming days, he will now recommend that the party reengage its ministers in the Six-County Executive.

The British and Dublin governments, the US State Department and the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, and political parties throughout Ireland also welcomed the move.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the IRA decision represented a moment of "fundamental significance" in the peace process. His call for a "real process of normalisation", in republican areas marked by "intrusive security", was echoed in the speech made by British Secretary of State John Reid in Westmister on Wednesday.

Blair said that what had been achieved could be assessed by "comparing it with what people would have thought was in any way or shape possible ten years ago".

"It is worth it, one, when you can actually make progress and, two, when we see what the alternative is - and I think we only need to look across to the Middle East and see what the alternative is when the peace process breaks down."

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said that the IRA move gave the Executive and Cross-border Bodies a "new lease of life", allowing "matters to move forward in an unhindered way".

Ahern, however, responding to a question from Fine Gael leader Michael Noonan, made a further demand:

"I hope the stated position of the stated position of the republican leadership - that they will move to a position where there will be no army, there will be no structures, that there will be no paramilitary activities - that is one we will have to continue to work for."

Noonan himself called for a 'standing down' of the IRA. It appears the next round of preconditions may already have begun.

Labour Party leader Ruairi Quinn was more positive, and said that "all parties must act in a positive manner and show good faith".

Dublin Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, said that the move created the conditions for a new "template of trust" and confidence between both traditions in Ireland. Political leaders, in turn, he said, would have to be "responsive and generous. It is imperative that politics is made to work and that the nightmarish scenes, such as those from North Belfast, are consigned forever to the pages of history."

26-County President, Mary McAleese, currently on a visit to Uganda, said the IRA initiative was "deeply encouraging".

"I think all the 'Yes' people will be thinking very much like me - very, very hopeful that we are actually watching something that is truly historic, that is going to be the key to unlocking the fullest potential of the peace process."

SDLP leader-elect Mark Durkan said the IRA statement "should be well received within the community and the political process, as a significant contribution to public confidence in the implementation of the Agreement".

"Welcome news to all peace-loving peoples" is how the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) described the move. However, it also urged "that other paramiltary groups take immediate steps to commence the decommissioning process, in accordance with the Good Friday Agreement". Political "manouvering designed to undermine the institutions" should cease, the NCAFP said, and Britain must produce a "comprehensive plan for the demilitarisation of the North of Ireland". The New York based body also urged for implementation of the Patten proposals.

Loyalists and anti-Agreement unionism in general were less positive in their response. PUP Assembly Member Billy Hutchinson, said that "for loyalists to reciprocate in terms of giving up weapons, they would be doing it: firstly, to satisfy Irish America who they don't agree with in the first place, and secondly to actually ensure that two Sinn Féin ministers stay in government, which again they don't agree with".

The DUP, predictably, said that the Army move "does not even scratch the surface of the arms issue".