Republican News · Thursday 31 October 2002

IRA suspends contact with arms body

In a statement received by An Phoblacht on Wednesday, the IRA announced that it has ended contact with the IICD (Independent International Commission on Decommissioning). The statement from the leadership of Óglaigh na hÉireann comes in the wake of the recent speech by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the suspension of the political institutions by the British government.

The full text of the statement reads as follows:

"Recent events show that the leadership of unionism have set their faces against political change at this time.

There is also a real threat to the peace process from the British establishment and its agencies, as well as the loyalist murder gangs.

For our part, the IRA remains committed to the search for a just and lasting peace.

The complete cessation of military operations announced in July 1997 remains intact. In the past the IRA leadership has acted unilaterally to save and enhance the peace process. We have also outlined how, in our view, the full implementation by the two governments of their commitments could provide a political context with the potential to remove the causes of conflict.

Despite this, the British government says that the responsibility for this present crisis and its resolution lies with us and there is an effort to impose unacceptable and untenable ultimatums on the IRA. At the same time the British government, by its own admission, has not kept its commitments.

The IRA therefore, has suspended contact with the IICD.

The onus is on the British government and others to create confidence in this process. They can do this by honouring their obligations."

P O'Neill
Irish Republican Publicity Bureau
Dublin