SAOIRSE32

Danny Morrison

From Daily Ireland, 13 July 2005

Three years ago Tony Blair told the House of Commons and a bewildered, part-terrified, part-sceptical British public that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that could be launched against Britain within 45 minutes. In under a 45-minute period last Thursday four bombs wreaked murder, suffering, havoc and misery on innocent civilians in London.

However, British government spokespersons in various radio and television debates were quick to deny that the bombings had anything to do with the war in Iraq and the Anglo-American occupation of that country. To prove their case they pointed out that the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York on 9/11 preceded the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.

But what that analogy omitted is that before 9/11 the US and its close ally, Britain, were long perceived as and accused of interfering in the affairs of other countries. They were seen as being hypocrites with double standards. Indeed, they are seen as the key leaders of a prosperous First World against the Third World, justifying and perpetuating economic injustice and huge disparities in wealth.

They have supported dictatorships (like Saddam Hussein’s) provided such puppet governments were pro-West, and they have excused torture if it led to stability – which was good for trade and the stock market. They have abused their veto on the UN Security Council, particularly the USA on the issue of Israeli state terrorism, whilst being fulsome in their condemnation of Palestinian violence.

During what has been called the first Iraqi war (but not the first time that Britain had been militarily involved there) US and British forces killed thousands of young Iraqi conscripts who didn’t know how to fight. The US bombed Baghdad, killing civilians, including at least 400 children, women and men, crouched in what they thought was the safety of a bomb shelter. The US used Saudi Arabia as a base in both the first and second war – outraging Muslims across the world over what they saw as a desecration of Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities of Islam.

The ten-year long UN embargo against Hussein’s regime also led to immense suffering and the deaths of thousands of infants. Then there was the invasion, more deaths of innocent civilians, followed by the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, and now an incipient civil war.

So, if you, your family or your community had been on the receiving end of Bush and Blair’s ‘noble objectives’, even if your own unelected government had brought this down on your head, would you feel alienated, angry or vengeful? Would it make you despair or turn you into a suicide bomber? The answer has to be, quite possibly. Particularly if one interpretation of your religion glorifies such action.

But instead of dealing with legitimate grievances as a possible cause of a major proportion of the terrorism Tony Blair’s spokespersons have been telling the people of Britain that the bombings in London had nothing to do with his decision to fraudulently go to war in Iraq. The priority was to disconnect or minimise any link between Blair’s actions and the mass murder of British citizens.

We are supposed to believe that capital cities just get bombed out of the blue by evil people. We are told that terrorism is part of the modern condition and British people just have to learn to live with it - but die accepting the government’s explanations for its existence. Indeed it is viewed as the height of disloyalty (especially when death and suffering is so fresh and to the fore in the public’s mind) for anyone to explain what happened in the context of British foreign policy.

Again, such censorship is aimed at stifling the frank discussion of awkward truths in order to preserve the putative moral high ground of the British and US governments when the only people with a right to the moral high ground are the innocent victims in London and in Iraq and elsewhere.

Six days before the London bombings seventeen civilians were blown up in a remote village in Afghanistan by US forces attacking a ‘suspected militant hideout’. Among the suspected militants were several two-year-olds and three-year-olds and their mothers. Villagers who came to their rescue were again bombed from the air, resulting in more fatalities. Surely, this – the slaughter of innocents - has to be defined as terrorism?

To defeat non-state terrorism one has to understand its motivation and origin. Neither Blair nor Bush wants a rational debate on the causes of Islamic terrorism. They want the public to believe that terrorists are mindless and evil and operate in a vacuum with no historical context.

Yet, the terrorists can be stopped – though not in the short-term. In the short-term, though, Britain has the right to protect itself through surveillance and intelligence and the judicious use of the law.

The bombers may well be British nationals with some experience of racial abuse and demonisation or they might be foreigners. Regardless, they are still the product of much persecution and humiliation of Arabs by Western governments. It is hard to defeat those who do not value this life and who believe that pure terrorism will lead to victory and will compensate for the disparity between the overwhelming might of the West and their own meagre but dedicated numbers.

But they can be defeated – through justice. Justice for the poor, the occupied, the oppressed, the persecuted. Justice.

Danny Morrison ’s play, The Wrong Man, is being staged in Conway Mill, Belfast, 29 July – 5 August. Bookings – ( Belfast) 90313440

RTE

19 July 2005 20:22

The regulatory body, the Irish Medicines Board, has confirmed that up to 56 potentially defective pacemakers have been implanted in patients in Ireland.

The devices made by US firm Guidant have not been sold or implanted in this country in the last four years.

A sealing component used in the devices affected may experience gradual deterioration, resulting in a higher than normal moisture content within the pacemaker case.
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The board says that all patients with affected devices have been identified and will be contacted by physicians in Ireland.

Patients implanted with the affected devices who experience symptoms such as prolonged rapid heart rate, light-headedness, blackouts, palpitations, increased shortness of breath, dizziness, ankle-swelling or increased cardiac symptoms, are asked to seek medical attention.

The devices were made between 25 November 1997 and 26 October 2000.

The Guidant Corporation has a base in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.

BBC

The Progressive Unionist Party has been urged to “firmly disown” loyalist paramilitaries, the Ulster Volunteer Force.

Alban Maginness, SDLP, made the call as the funeral took place of Craig McCausland, 20, the second person to die in the UVF/LVF feud.

Mr McCausland’s murder was described as “an evil deed”

His family blames the UVF. He died after being shot in Dhu Varren Park, north Belfast, early on 11 July.

His family deny he had any involvement with the Loyalist Volunteer Force.

The LVF said he was not known to them.

Mr Maginness said PUP leader David Ervine could not continue to “dodge the issue or explain violence away”.

“The simple fact is that the UVF is engaged in murder and the planning of murder.

“Yesterday, they may have been consulting on their future, but last night they were smashing their way into a house to kill.”

He called on the two governments to put pressure on loyalist paramilitaries to stop.

In response, Mr Ervine said that he did not need “lectures” from Alban Maginness.

At Mr McCausland’s funeral, mourners heard Presbyterian minister Ken Doherty say that the 20-year-old had “everything to live for”.

He said that his murder was “an evil deed” which left a family devastated.

Mr McCausland, a Protestant, is the second member of his family to have been murdered by loyalists.

The body of his 23-year-old mother, Lorraine, was found in a stream on 8 March 1987 near a loyalist club in Tynedale where she had been drinking.

She had been beaten with a concrete block, and it was reported at the time that it was believed she had been killed by the UDA.

Last week, three men burst into the home Mr McCausland shared with his partner and her children and fatally wounded him.

Earlier that night, another man, David Hanley, was shot several times as he walked two dogs on the Crumlin Road near Glenbank.

A short time after the killing of Mr McCausland, in nearby Woodvale Pass, a man escaped another apparent murder bid by jumping out the window of a house as a number of masked men were attempting to smash their way in.

Daily Ireland

FR AIDAN TROY
To comment: columnists@dailyireland.com

click to view

Ardoyne Bungee Jumpers” read the sign on a bonfire just a few minutes from Holy Cross parish in North Belfast. The reference is to the tragic loss of young lives through suicide over recent years.
I learned of the sign from a lady who phoned to express her disgust. She added that thousands of pounds had been given by Belfast City Council for the creation of this bonfire.
She hated seeing the dead mocked she said. The police were notified but the sign was there until all went up in smoke on 11th night. There were probably loud cheers as the flames lapped up towards this sick piece of sign writing.
Above this sign was another. It simply said ‘Sean Kelly’. It too was burned. As this bonfire was being decorated I spent over an hour with Sean Kelly in Maghaberry Prison. Being a pastoral visit our conversation must remain between the two of us. His past is well documented. At present I can say without fear of contradiction that he has not been involved in violence or law breaking since being released on licence. The reasons for his return to prison last month must be shown or let him be immediately released.
All the angels, of course, are not on one side. On the night of July 12, a barrage of stones, bricks and bottles rained down on the Orange Order parade and its followers as it passed through Ardoyne. A number of blast bombs were thrown over the police screens. As they exploded injuries followed. A journalist was carried away injured. It is impossible to justify any of this.
Water cannon were used at once and many of us felt the force and coldness of the water. Plastic bullets were fired by the police. I saw young people injured. Of course, they should not have been there but these dangerous and lethal items should once and for all be banned and pass into history.
They have killed, blinded and permanently injured both rioters and innocent people over the past 35 years. There has to be a better way. Over a hundred police officers were injured to varying degrees. All injuries are wrong.
By the time the rioting ended at 11 pm, I was near to tears of disappointment and sadness. For weeks sincere efforts were made to avoid scenes like those that made the late news and the papers the next day.
Events from football and boxing tournaments to a battle of the DJs had been arranged by the local community. Thanks to President and Dr McAleese 100 children had a great day in Dublin on July 12.
The refusal of the Orange Order to engage in any form of dialogue with the local residents on Crumlin Road and others past whose homes the parade passes a few times every summer is a major obstacle to peace in Ardoyne.
This refusal to enter into conversation with residents ‘imprisoned’ in their homes most of the day gives rise to anger and disgust. It could and should be so different.
The silence of elected politicians who are members of the Orange Order gives a poor example.
Two peaceful nationalist protests both morning and evening on July 12 ended without incident. Dialogue and common sense saw to that.
The determinations of The Parades Commission and the presence of police and army cannot guarantee that violence will not break out again.
The contentious marches are not for me any longer about religion, culture, politics or territory. It is now a ‘pro-life’ issue.
The day is not far away when life will be lost as a result of the present impasse because of the refusal to talk. The Gospel speaks about peace makers and not just peace keepers.
We need urgently to make peace before the next few parades take place. This is not a threat but a plea.

Daily Ireland

By Jarlath Kearney
j.kearney@dailyireland.com

click to view

A number of vitriolic attacks were yesterday levelled against respected Belfast priest Fr Aidan Troy.
The abuse came after Fr Troy used his column in yesterday’s Daily Ireland to raise concern that the case of republican ex-prisoner, Seán Kelly, could become a miscarriage of justice.
DUP MP for North Belfast Nigel Dodds claimed the respected cleric was “crass, insensitive and inappropriate” for questioning the basis of Mr Kelly’s re-imprisonment. Mr Dodds’ party colleague Nelson McCausland said Fr Troy’s position was “unbelievable”.
Last night Fr Troy said that his decision to publicly question Seán Kelly’s re-imprisonment was based on a pastoral commitment to justice and to the values of the Gospel.
Seán Kelly had his 1998 Good Friday Agreement early release licence suspended by secretary of state Peter Hain on June 18. He was arrested by the PSNI and imprisoned in Maghaberry jail, Co Antrim.
No evidence has been produced by the British government to support what republicans now refer to as Mr Kelly’s “internment”. Mr Kelly had been prominent as a steward at interface areas in north Belfast along with other republican ex-prisoners.
Writing in yesterday’s Daily Ireland, Fr Troy noted that he held a private, pastoral visit with Mr Kelly on July 6.
“At present I can say without fear of contradiction that he has not been involved in violence or law-breaking since being released on licence. The reasons for his return to prison must be shown or let him be immediately released,” Fr Troy wrote.
However, Nigel Dodds claimed he was “utterly astounded” by Fr Troy’s comments.
“People can see for themselves from pictures in the press that Seán Kelly was in the middle of rioting in North Belfast. Seán Kelly should never have been let out of jail in the first place,” Mr Dodds said.
Reacting to the personal attack, Fr Troy said that he had watched Seán Kelly during disturbances “taking people aside and saying this is not the way forward”.
“I think we need to know what sort of information returned Seán Kelly to prison. There’s a justice issue: if a person can be returned to prison without any accountability then we are all vulnerable,” Fr Troy said.
The prominent cleric said that “voices have to be raised” where justice issues are concerned. He also emphasised it was never his intention to cause offence.
In a separate development yesterday, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams personally demanded the release of Seán Kelly during a meeting with Peter Hain.
“The man should not be in prison and we made that very, very clear. To my knowledge, no one has given evidence around why the man was put in prison,” Mr Adams said.

Sinn Féin

Published: 19 July, 2005

Sinn Féin Newtownabbey councillor Breige Meehan has expressed outrage at the attacks on nationalist homes and vehicles in Newtownabbey last night. Three homes were attacked and a works van belonging to a recently deceased man was destroyed.

Cllr Meehan said:

“These attacks are despicable. Across the greater North Belfast area and Newtownabbey there has been an increasing number of attacks on nationalist homes and property carried out by unionist paramilitaries.

“For many nationalists this has been going on for years. For many families this is the final straw.

“Thankfully no-one was seriously injured. The trauma and stress of people having to live with this sectarian campaign of attack and intimidation is unacceptable. The more so as it comes in the middle of the Orange Order marching season when the Orange Order are reinforcing sectarian attitudes particularly in their refusal to treat nationalists with common courtesy.

“Unionist political leaders, church, community and civic leaders as well as the Orange Order have a responsibility to bring these sectarian attacks to an end. The failure to take on sectarianism within their community is an abdication of that responsibility.” ENDS

BreakingNews.ie

19/07/2005 - 16:33:00

The appointment of a former director general of RTÉ to head Northern Ireland’s Equality Commission angered a senior unionist today.

Democratic Unionist deputy leader Peter Robinson claimed the appointment of Bob Collins showed the British government’s disregard for unionist views.

The East Belfast MP said: “Coming only a month after the appointment of Monica McWilliams as chief human rights commissioner, this a further slight on the unionist community.

“It is a scandal that there is still not a single person who is in any way identified with the largest political party in Northern Ireland on the Equality Commission.

“At a time when the Government should be encouraging greater engagement from unionists with bodies such as the Human Rights and Equality Commissions they are appointing people that are not likely to command the confidence of the majority community in Northern Ireland.

“This perverse strategy is not only likely to antagonise unionists but will merely increase their sense of alienation with such bodies.”

Mr Collins served as the director general of RTÉ between 1997 and 2003.

He had been in the company since 1975 where he served in a number of roles including director of television and director of corporate affairs.

The new Equality Commission chief was born in Killarney in Co Kerry and grew up in Adare, Co Limerick.

He succeeds Dame Joan Harbison who steps down in July.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain also appointed four new commissioners.

They include Professor Eithne McLaughlin of Queen’s University and CBI council member Bryan Johnston.

He also appointed James Knox, a policy and research officer with the Rainbow Project which works with lesbians, gays and bisexuals, and retired hotelier and state registered nurse Elaine Waterson, who has previously served on the boards of the Housing Executive and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.

Mr Hain said Mr Collins was the right person to head the commission.

“A champion for equality throughout his career, Bob Collins brings to the commission not only valuable experience of running a high profile organisation but also hands-on experience of making equality a reality,” he said.

“Together, these five new commissioners have the knowledge, practical skills and academic understanding to make a real contribution to the protection and promotion of equality in Northern Ireland.

“I am confident they will continue to enhance the commission’s pivotal role in advancing rights and protection for everyone in Northern Ireland.”

Mr Hain also paid tribute to the work of Dame Joan and three outgoing commissioners, Ruth Lavery, Alan Henry and Ann Hope.

Daily Ireland

Via News Hound

EDITORIAL

The Orange Order sits down with loyalist paramilitaries to discuss contentious parades through nationalist districts. One presumes that the representatives of the Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Defence Association and Red Hand Commando who attend meetings of, to give just one example, the unionist North and West Belfast Parades Forum are not there to suggest their favourite tunes for the Twelfth.
Given the limited intellectual abilities of the paramilitaries who take time out from feuding to attend the order’s gatherings, it can be assumed that their only contribution is to bring some muscle to the marches.
This is the same Orange Order that refuses to talk to nationalist residents’ groups because the groups are, they say, fronts for Sinn Féin and the IRA.
It may be the case that some Orangemen do not see the paramilitaries as the order’s private army but that, in effect, is what they have become.
Before the controversial parade through Ardoyne, paramilitaries firebombed a Catholic house along the route. This weekend, they returned and threw a blast bomb into the bedroom of a young mother who lived, again, on the very interface that saw the worst of the Twelfth night’s violence.
The message is clear — oppose Orange parades and your homes will be firebombed, not of course by the upstanding gentlemen of the Orange Order but by the paramilitaries who drink from their well.
Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair and Peter Hain have a lot on their plate in the next few weeks but, before they start lecturing republicans on their obligations and responsibilities, they really do need to bring the Orangemen to book.

Daily Ireland

Via News Hound

Damien Kiberd
To comment: columnists@dailyireland.com

Double standards are always offensive. The persistent application of double standards can bring about undesirable results.
An ex-prisoner, who happens to be a republican released under the terms of Belfast Agreement, has been reincarcerated for reasons that are still unclear. Parts of the security apparatus appear unwilling even to accept responsibility for his rearrest.
Leaks have been made to the media that Seán Kelly has been banged up because he had reinvolved himself in activities that run contrary to the terms of the Agreement.
Republicans say that the prisoner was involved in nothing of the sort and that, in fact, he was seeking to maintain order in his local community in the period directly before his arrest and during a time of high tension.
Last week, the most interesting theory in circulation was that he had been rearrested because the presence of his face on the footpath around July 12 would offend Orange marchers and loyalist bandsmen from the Shankill district.
We may never learn the full truth concerning this matter, though Peter Hain might condescend to offer some form of coherent explanation. He might also explain why it is possible to lock up republicans in completely unclear circumstances when members of the Ulster Volunteer Force and Loyalist Volunteer Force are permitted to go around killing each other without any threat of official sanction.
Did the leadership of the UVF approve the recent killing of two loyalists in a feud? Was this in compliance with the terms of the Belfast Agreement?
If matters progress further, will Hain do anything at all about it? Where does the Progressive Unionist Party stand in all of this?
Hain has a background as a sort of liberal, having involved himself in the anti-apartheid movement for some years in a most prominent way. He could, if he was bothered, ask the chief constable of the PSNI to forward to him files concerning the spate of attacks perpetrated by loyalists of one hue or another against ethnic minorities in south Belfast, Antrim and north Armagh in recent times. (I’m not talking about Irish Catholics here, just harmless Chinese and Portuguese and the rest.)
Are these attacks in keeping with either the spirit or the letter of the Belfast Agreement? Either way and simply by reading these files, Hain might begin to develop a better understanding of the beast with which he will ultimately have to deal.
The problem, of course, is that the whole history of the last 30 years has been a massive example of double standards in operation.
While British and Irish ministers preened themselves in public as moral exemplars, routinely denouncing republican acts of violence, the British establishment directly involved itself in promoting loyalist acts of terror.
That is why at least four paid informers and members of a paramilitary force were induced/permitted/ assisted in the murder of the Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane. That is why agents of the British state were involved in assisting the bombers who killed 33 people in Dublin and Monaghan in 1974 in a series of no-warning explosions.
Given the degree of complicity that Britain has in the activities of loyalist paramilitary groups, it is no wonder that there appears to be a minimal level of concern in the PSNI, the Northern Ireland Office or London when loyalists begin to kill each other in sporadic feuding.
It is logistically convenient for the British that people who have been active participants in a prolonged process of collusion should be wiped out. Dead men tell no tales.
Future historians may be able to trace how the majority of those who carried out so-called deniable operations on the urging of securocrats have simply been rubbed out, some even dying while held at Her Majesty’s pleasure.
This is also why it is very difficult for anybody with an ounce of logic in their heads to accept or understand the basis of the current propaganda and public relations campaign being directed against parts of the republican community by those same securocrats.
The current “fresh thinking” in Whitehall appears to be that they can coerce nationalists and republicans by claiming that a small coterie of semi-feudal chiefs based close to the Border have enriched themselves as a result of “the Troubles”.
In tandem with this, the other arm of the PR campaign seeks to portray nationalists and republicans as criminals. This line is being spun out through the usual supportive channels in the Dublin, Belfast and London media.
As an adjunct to the campaign, the Dublin Department of Justice is promoting a hokum worthy of J Edgar Hoover himself — namely, the bizarre theory that republicans are attempting to create a “state within a state” in the 26 Counties.
Many of the fantasies planted with curiously supportive hacks in the media appear to be predicated on the old British belief that the quality of democracy in the 26 Counties is most fragile and that Britain itself must shoulder responsibility for maintaining stability on “these islands”.
At one point some years ago, a serious British broadsheet actually published a story suggesting that there was about to be a military coup d’état in Dublin. The story enraged the Taoiseach of the day, who had been trying to develop a good working relationship with London.
A thorough analysis of the propaganda war needs to be made. Some of the more lurid recent contributions to the anti-republican campaign show neither any care in attention to detail nor any concern that facts should be reported accurately.
The timing of this concerted media/publicity campaign is difficult to fathom, too. It is seven years since the Belfast Agreement and almost 11 since the commencement of the ceasefires. Why now?
It may be that there are elements within the Blair administration who want to implement the Belfast Agreement fully. But it may be that there are other elements in Whitehall who are pursuing completely different goals.
Republicans have been asked in recent weeks if they are prepared to move forward, to make leaps of faith or not, but nobody else involved in the process appears to be asking themselves the same questions.
Why embark on a campaign of ludicrously inaccurate imperialist coat-trailing, of provocation, of smearing, if you genuinely want progress to be made?
People who act with good authority should be trying to solve problems.
There will be plenty of ranting and raving in the future from the guiding lights of Free Presbyterianism.
One might imagine that the British and Irish governments and their agents who adopt a problem-solving approach in many spheres would try to behave more constructively.

Damien Kiberd is a writer and broadcaster. A presenter for News-Talk 106 in Dublin, he was previously editor of The Sunday Business Post.

BBC

The UVF have been blamed for the attack

The Ulster Volunteer Force paramilitary grouping has been linked by loyalist sources to an attack in east Belfast.

Shots were fired at a house in Sydenham and, according to one source, security measures at the house prevented the gunmen from getting inside.

The incident comes during a continuing feud between the UVF and the LVF.

Loyalists said the police have visited two bars on the Newtownards Road and on the Shankill to advise them of the possibility of an attack.

The shooting in Sydneham happened at a property on Victoria Road at about 2045 BST on Monday.

Police said they were unable to say why the house was targeted. A car was found on fire a short time later in a nearby underpass at Victoria Park.

The DUP’s Robin Newton, who described the attack as an “act of madness”, said it may be linked to a loyalist feud.

“It could well be that someone walking along the street, a child, an elderly person, could have been caught up in the incident and we could have been looking at a fatality this morning,” he said.

Police have appealed for anyone with information about the attack to contact them.

INTERNATIONAL ANIMAL RIGHTS GATHERING 2005

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday 20th July 2005 - 7.30 pm

Comfort Inn hotel, Gt Denmark Street.
Off Parnell Square, Dublin.1.

A night of discussion on tactics and philosophies with leading figures from the grassroots animal liberation movement.

· PROFESSOR TOM REGAN, U.S.A. Philosopher, North Carolina State University, animal rights activist and author of The Case for Animal Rights and Empty Cages, www.lib.ncsu.edu/archives/exhibits/regan

· ROBIN WEBB, U.K .The Animal Liberation PRESS OFFICER, activist and spokesperson for ALF actions on his second visit to Ireland. www.alfsg.org.uk/press.html

· MARY BRADY, U.K. Founder of Realfood, vegan campaigner and author of THE MOTHERCAGE and other animal rights publications. www.arcnews.org.uk/

STALLS, Merchandise, videos and other speakers from the UK movement.

ADMISSION: 7 euros
(5 euros unwaged)
SEATS WILL BE LIMITED

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BBC: ON THIS DAY

19 July 1997

click to view

The IRA has announced its second ceasefire in three years starting at noon tomorrow.

It follows a statement by republican political party Sinn Fein last night urging the IRA to call a truce, but the speed of response has surprised politicians.

Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam MP will monitor IRA activity over the next six weeks to decide whether Sinn Fein will be admitted to the all-party peace talks scheduled for 15 September.

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said he supported a ceasefire because of a “commitment by the two governments (UK and Republic of Ireland) to inclusive peace talks”.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair had underlined this resolve by making his first big speech as head of the new government from Belfast on 16 May.

In June he set out the conditions for Sinn Fein’s inclusion in the all-party talks in a speech to the Commons.

He offered a clear timetable for talks - to be completed by May 1998 - within six weeks of a ceasefire.

Mr Blair also suggested weapons’ decommissioning was not a pre-condition for negotiation.

Many unionists in Northern Ireland believe IRA disarmament is essential to any peace process and are angered by British concessions on the issue.

Security spokesman for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Ken Maginnis said: “I don’t expect anyone to take a ceasefire declaration at face value.”

“There will have to be a definite commitment to a permanent, complete and universal ceasefire with an indication that disarmament and the disbandment of the terrorist organisation can take place,” he added.

The Irish peace process reached a stalemate under the last British Government which made concessions to unionists over decommissioning, in return for their support in Parliament.

Mr Blair is to meet UUP leader David Trimble in the next couple of days to ensure unionists’ participation in September’s multi-party talks.

In Context

The ceasefire came into force on 20 July in an atmosphere of muted determination rather than celebration.

A new round of peace talks, including Sinn Fein, resumed on 15 September at Stormont, near Belfast.

None of the five unionist or loyalist parties attended and attempted to get Sinn Fein excluded.

Talks continued at Stormont as David Trimble and the UUP began to participate.

In October 1997 Tony Blair shook Gerry Adams’ hand and became the first British PM to make such a gesture since Lloyd George did so with Michael Collins in the 1920s.

Negotiations and sporadic violence by loyalist and republican splinter groups continued until the Good Friday Agreement was signed in May 1998.