A man accused of conspiring to cause explosions has claimed he was arrested when in London to "decommission" an IRA arms cache.
Mr Brian McHugh told a jury at the Old Bailey in London that his orders were to dispose of arms as the republican movement moved towards peace and wanted to join "historic" settlement talks in Northern Ireland. He said there was just one "short-term" objective. "Get the stuff, get all of it, get it out of storage and get rid of it."
Mr McHugh, of Glenthorne Road, Hammersmith, is alleged to have been the leader of an IRA active service unit plotting to mount a "devastating" bombing campaign. One of his comrades, Mr Diarmuid O'Neill, was shot dead when armed police stormed a London hotel in September last year.
Mr McHugh and Mr Patrick Kelly (31) were arrested following the dawn raid on the Premier West Hotel, in Glenthorne Road, Hammersmith, London, on September 24th last year.
At the same time officers arrested Mr Michael Phillips (22) as he left his work at Gatwick Airport and Mr James Murphy (26) at his Chelsea home.
Mr McHugh, who represents himself after dispensing with his counsel, was making a closing address to the jury yesterday.
"In the late summer of 1996 there were not going to be any more explosions here in England," he said. "The peace process was back on track."
He told the jury it was important to understand what was happening "before, during and after our arrests" in the story of the Troubles. "It was a momentous period in the history of these islands," said Mr McHugh. "This trial itself has the potential to go down in history as one of the last of its kind."
He said the first 18-month ceasefire ended in February 1996 with the bombing of Canary Wharf because it was believed the British were trying to split and defeat the republican movement. "The temporary resumption of violence was to prevent that."
Mr McHugh said secret peace talks began again a week later, but stalled with the shooting of O'Neill. He said republicans hoped in the summer that the prime minister, Mr John Major, blamed for the stagnation of the peace process, would lose a general election and they switched their hopes to a Labour government.
The trial judge, Mr Justice Smedley, interjected for the second time, saying: "I will not say this again. I have forbidden you from making a political speech . . . This is not a comment on the evidence." But Mr McHugh argued politics was linked to the trial and said: "It is ironic that leaders of the republican movement will be at 10 Downing Street next week."
He claimed the prosecution had painted a misleading picture, assuming the defendants were part of an active service unit and would act in a similar way to other such groups. He said the prosecution had ignored the historic events taking place.
The trial continues.