Pro-Agreement parties welcome IRA move

REACTION: The Taoiseach has welcomed the IRA's latest move on decommissioning, saying it represented a "further step in the …

REACTION:The Taoiseach has welcomed the IRA's latest move on decommissioning, saying it represented a "further step in the resolution of the arms issue".

In a statement Mr Ahern said: "This development should offer reassurance that the issue of illegal arms can be resolved under the auspices of the Commission in a satisfactory way and I hope that this will be recognised and accepted on all sides".

The North's First Minister and Ulster Unionist Party leader Mr David Trimble said the IRA's announcement clearly showed republicans were involved in a process of putting their weapons beyond use.

He castigated anti-Agreement unionists who said that disarmament would never happen and when it did take place, dismissed it as a one-off.

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"The fact that we have reached a second act of decommissioning is significant. Now we have got a process of decommissioning coming from republicans, loyalists must realise that there is more urgency for them to start their own process".

Sinn Féin president Mr Gerry Adams said he hoped the new development would be recognised as a move to bolster the peace movement.

"It is time for an end to meanness," he said. "It is time for an end to mean spiritedness. It is time for an end to the nay-sayers and begrudgery.

"No-one should underestimate the difficulties this causes for many republicans. This includes many, many republicans and nationalists who have never been near guns and who never want to see guns used again. For them this is another huge move by the IRA leadership," Mr Adams said.

Deputy First Minister and SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan, called on Gen de Chastelain to continue his talks with loyalists to encourage them to start a process of disarmament.

Fine Gael leader Mr Michael Noonan welcomed the arms move: "I look forward to the day when all paramilitary organisations will have totally disarmed and when all other aspects of the Good Friday Agreement will have been fully implemented".

The Labour Party leader Mr Ruairi Quinnalso welcomed the move but said "it needs to be treated with some caution given the ongoing questions about the continued involvement of the Republican Movement in paramilitary violence".

Alliance Party leader David Ford Mr urged loyalist paramilitaries to begin getting rid of their weapons. "Pressure must now be brought to bear on loyalist paramilitary organisations and through their associated parties to begin decommissioning their weapons," he said.

However, the IRA move was criticised by anti-Agreement unionists.

DUP deputy leader Mr Peter Robinson said it was a stunt. Noting the approaching general election in the Republic, he said: "This has been produced by Sinn Féin purely for electoral purposes and to squeeze further concessions from the government.

"It will not impress anybody from the unionist community which is still waiting to find out whether it was one or two guns decommissioned the first time. It's an event of no significance".

Mr Jeffrey Donaldson of the UUP, a leading critic of the Belfast Agreement, said: "This further IRA gesture has more to do with the Irish general election and deflecting attention away from the break-in at Castlereagh Police Station than it has to do with a commitment to peace and democracy," he said.

Additional reporting PA

Patrick  Logue

Patrick Logue

Patrick Logue is Digital Editor of The Irish Times