SINN FÉIN president Gerry Adams has stated "categorically and definitively" that the IRA has left the stage as the DUP and Sinn Féin yesterday held "useful" talks to try to break the political stalemate threatening the Northern Executive.
Following Wednesday's Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) report stating that the IRA army council was no longer "operational or functional", First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness led DUP and Sinn Féin delegations in talks.
They met for two hours at Stormont Castle yesterday in what was said to be a cordial atmosphere and agreed a brief, relatively positive statement afterwards: "The Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin met this morning and discussed a range of issues. We had a useful exchange and will be having further meetings in the coming days and weeks."
The continuing negotiations will address such issues as the transfer of policing and justice, the Irish language, educational reform, and the Maze prison site.
They are being held against an effective deadline of next Thursday week when the Executive is due to meet. It has not met since mid-June because Mr McGuinness has blocked Executive meetings pending resolution of the outstanding issues, primarily policing and justice.
The talks are also being held against a background of warnings by Sinn Féin that it would walk out of the Executive if police and justice powers are not devolved and by Mr Robinson that there will be "serious consequences" if the Executive does not meet on September 18th. While the DUP welcomed the IMC report, Mr Robinson added that unionists needed "to be convinced by the republican leadership that the IRA is out of business for good".
Before travelling to Dublin yesterday, Mr Adams said the IMC report confirmed that the IRA was "out of the equation". He was asked on BBC Radio Ulster's Morning Ulster programme whether he could speak for the republican leadership and say the IRA was out of business for good.
"Well, I can't," he replied. "All I know is that the IRA left the stage some time ago." Mr Adams then added: "I am saying categorically and definitively that the IRA - and it's what everybody knows - has left the stage. Sin é. The IRA is no longer part of this, we should not be concerned about it."
On the same programme, DUP Minister for Finance Nigel Dodds indicated that his party required confirmation directly from the republican leadership that the IRA army council was redundant.
"For Gerry Adams to say, 'well you know the IRA are off the stage', if that's the case what's the problem then with saying that they're disbanded, they're gone for good?" he asked.
Mr Dodds denied the DUP was obsessed with the IRA. He said Sinn Féin was obsessed with devolving policing and justice. The DUP had a concern about the army council - and "good progress" was being made - but there was also an issue of determining when there would be public confidence for the devolution of policing and justice.
