Northern Ireland

I had intended talking about other things, but the gravity of the situation playing out in Northern Ireland currently forces me to talk about it. This morning, the IRA released the following statement which was published by An Phoblacht.

"More than ten years ago, an IRA cessation publicly heralded the onset of the Irish peace process. Since then, the IRA has, time and again, demonstrated its commitment to sustaining and developing that process through a series of very significant and substantive initiatives.

In the context of the work to conclude a comprehensive agreement, the leadership of Óglaigh na hÉireann decided:

- to support a comprehensive agreement by moving into a new mode which reflects our determination to see the transition to a totally peaceful society;
- all IRA Volunteers be given specific instructions not to engage in any activity which might thereby endanger that new agreement;
- the IRA leadership also decided that we will, in this context, conclude the process to completely and verifiably put all our arms beyond use;
- we instructed our representative to agree with the IICD the completion of this process, speedily, and if possible by the end of December;
- to further enhance public confidence we agreed to the presence of two clergymen as observers during this process.

The IRA leadership decided to contribute in this way to a comprehensive agreement to resolve all outstanding issues, including those of concern within unionism. For his part, Ian Paisley demanded that our contribution be photographed, and reduced to an act of humiliation.

This was never possible. Knowing this, he made this demand publicly as the excuse for his rejection of an overall agreement to create a political context with the potential to remove the causes of conflict. As the IRA leadership has said before, this is a context in which Irish republicans and unionists can, as equals, pursue our respective political objectives peacefully.

We restate our commitment to the peace process. But we will not submit to a process of humiliation.

We commend our Volunteers and the wider republican base for their patience and discipline in these testing times. Our commitment, like theirs, to our republican objectives is undiminished.

We thank those who have made genuine contributions to the efforts to find solutions to ongoing problems. While acknowledging these efforts, we reiterate our view that progress cannot be made by pandering to the demands of those who are against change.

The search for a just and lasting peace is a challenging one. The IRA leadership has risen to that challenge. The British Government and the leaders of unionism must do likewise."
P O'Neill
Irish Republican Publicity Bureau
Dublin

From my point of view as someone who lives in the republic, this seems to be quite a step forward. I can see the problem from both sides. The DUP would have a hard time from their grassroots if they didnt get complete verification. But from the IRA/Sinn Féin point of view, its easy to understand why they dont want to have the decommissioning process publicised. The IRA have agreed to have two clergymen from both sides present, which surely should be enough. Even the decommissioning body should be enough. Its independent, so surely the DUP could trust them. If they cant trust that body, or even clergymen, then why bother? Do they want to do it themselves and laugh in the face of the IRA while they're at it? They have to trust someone, but they cant even trust one of their own clergymen.

I just came across the British & Irish Proposal document which I havent had a chance to read yet, but it seemingly goes through everything that the governments had been discussing and included the terms of the current agreement, which unfortunately didnt go though. But I have read that there are plans to reconvene the talks sometime next week. Hopefully the IRA statement will have some effect in changing the minds of the DUP.

I have always had a keen interest in Northern Ireland politics. For probably the last 6 or 7 years I have read a number of books on the topic ranging from books about informers to the SAS in Northern Ireland. I have a couple more books on the subject to be read, which I will hopefully get around to sometime soon. My mother was worried a few years back that I wanted to join the IRA. I still get that now and again, but only jokingly when I tell her about a new book I've read.

In some of the more recent books that I've read, including Stakeknife, it seems to me that most within the movement have resigned themselves to finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Since 9/11, any form of terrorism is a bad idea. People all over the world are now more likely to lump the IRA in with al-Qaeda, something I assume the IRA dont want to do. They were always going down the road to peace, its just that 9/11 prompted them to do it a little faster, and to not be defined as a terrorist. Actually, another book I'm about to read (once I've finished the other 10!) is Terror Inc which details the money behind international terrorism. The IRA is mentioned, so it should be interesting to see what is said about them.

Wanting to finish on a positive note, I think its just a matter of time before power-sharing is restored to NI. Hopefully it will be before Christmas, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be after.