SAOIRSE32

Press Release/Preas Ráiteas
Republican Sinn Féin

Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill,
223 Parnell Street
Dublin 1, Ireland

Sinn Féin Poblachtach
Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill,
223 Sráid Pharnell, BÁC 1, Éire

For further information contact:

Des Dalton: Vice-President: 086-329 1809
Ruairí Óg Ó Brádaigh
Publicity Officer: Dublin 872 9747,

Statement by Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, President, Republican Sinn Féin

The betrayal of the Republican Cause by the Provisional Movement will not end with the destruction of arms at the behest of the British government. They will be required by their masters to accept and participate in the British police in Ireland.

Bobby Sands and the other hunger strikers died agonising deaths rather than wear a British convict uniform. Now the Provisionals will don British police uniforms to enforce British rule in Ireland against the Irish people.

With the destruction of their own arms the Provisional IRA is no longer an army and should dissolve immediately and stop the pretence. IRA General Order No 11 (see The Long War by Brendan O’Brien) stigmatises such action as an act of “treachery” to be dealt with as such.

Irish history teaches us that there will always be an IRA to oppose English rule here. It was not merely for civil rights under British rule in the Six Counties that the British occupation forces were resisted and such great sacrifices endured.

A really permanent peace will be secured by British disengagement. A new four-province Ireland will give full power and decision-making to all sections of the population, both nationalist and unionist.

ENDS

BBC

Loyalists are not likely to follow the IRA’s arms move

General John de Chastelain will not see loyalists decommission if “he lives to be 208″, a prominent loyalist has said.

The general said he was satisfied the IRA had given up all its weapons, and said he hoped loyalists would as well.

Sammy Duddy, a member of the Ulster Political Research Group - which advises the UDA, said loyalists would not follow the IRA’s lead.

“The general has no chance of seeing that achieved. Should he live to be 208, he’ll never see it,” he said.

“He’s living in cloud-cuckoo-land if he thinks the loyalists are going to decommission and do what the IRA’s doing.

‘Greatest fear’

“You see, the IRA have all the clout, this is how they’ve come to the table today.

“They’ve all the clout, they can go and make another Canary Wharf tomorrow.

“The greatest fear is the threat of a united Ireland. As I said it would be resisted by all and every opportunity and we don’t care about other things as such.”

General de Chastelain, the head of the arms decommissioning body, said the IRA had now put all its arms beyond use.

The two major loyalist paramilitary groups are the Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association.

Both went on ceasefire in 1994 under the auspices of the Combined Loyalist Military Command.

Since then the government has said it no longer recognises their ceasefires.

On 14 September, the government said it no longer recognised the UVF ceasefire over its feud with the Loyalist Volunteer Force splinter group, which has seen the death of four men.

In October 2001, the government said it no longer recognised the UDA ceasefire citing its involvement in feuding and racketeering.

However, in November 2004 the government said that it recognised it again and that the UDA’s ceasefire was holding.

Times Online

By Simon Freeman

BBC photo

The Provisional IRA has been amassing its hidden arsenal for more than 30 years.

The security services estimated the arms caches held at least 588 AK-47s, 17 Duska heavy machine guns - capable of shooting down helicopters - and 11 rocket propelled grenade launchers (RPGs).

There was also 2,658kg of semtex explosive, and nine Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs), although these were never used and experts speculate that either the missiles were defective or no-one within the organisation knew how to use them.

Other items included flame-throwers, more than 100 hand grenades, machine guns, and Webley revolvers.

Weapons were mostly smuggled into the province from Libya and America, and were stored in underground bunkers. They were scattered across secret locations in the north and south of Ireland, although most were believed to be concentrated in the counties of Kerry, Cavan and Meath.

According to experts, even the IRA’s own leadership may not know the full extent of its holdings beyond the general assessment that this is one of Europe’s largest stocks of weapons.

“Nobody could be totally accurate. Maybe not even the IRA know all the weaponry its members have around the place,” said Sean Boyne, a defence analyst with Jane’s Information Group.

“There could be some stuff hidden and forgotten that might turn up later.”

That uncertainty, and the refusal of inspectors to reveal details of the inventory of those weapons which have been destroyed, has been seized upon by loyalists who say that the deal is worthless without complete transparency.

“We do not know how many guns, the amounts of ammunition, explosives - nor were we told how the decommissioning was carried out,” said the Rev Ian Paisley at a news conference in Belfast.

The military estimates were calculated using information obtained by Britain officials from Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi when he cut off shipments in the early 1980s.

Apart from Libya, some of the IRA’s weapons came from the US during the 1970s, although shipments largely ceased from the mid-1980s.

The main gun-running in the US was controlled by a veteran republican network, whose operation was broken up in the mid 1980s following the creation of a wing of the FBI dedicated to targeting Irish paramilitaries.

The supply was further diminished when the Real IRA, a dissident group opposed to the peace process, splintered from the Provisional IRA in the mid 1990s, taking some of the stocks with them.

“We simply don’t know how much went to the Real IRA,” said Mr Boyne. “The security services have made their estimates based on intelligence, and that is the best they can do.”

Belfast Telegraph

By Gary Fennelly
26 September 2005

Today’s statement on the decommissioning of IRA arms has been warmly welcomed by both Governments.

In a joint statement the two Governments confirmed they have received a report from the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD).

In the statement they said: “The report states that the IICD has overseen a further and final major programme of arms decommissioning by the IRA. It is the IICD’s assessment, based on the information available to it and the two Governments, that the IRA has now placed all of its arms completely and verifiably beyond use.

“We warmly welcome this landmark development. Having sought to achieve this outcome for so many years, its significance now needs to be acknowledged and recognised. It is the clearest signal ever that the IRA’s armed campaign is over.

“We also welcome the presence of clergymen from the Protestant and Catholic communities as independent witnesses to the decommissioning process. Their presence should enhance public confidence.

“Although the completion of IRA decommissioning removes a dangerous threat and offers a welcome and important opportunity for progress, we are today most of all conscious of the victims of the IRA’s protracted campaign and their families. They remain central to our thoughts and prayers. The tragic and unnecessary loss of life and terrible injuries suffered over an extended period can never be forgotten.

“In our joint statement of 28 July, we said that the IRA’s words must be borne out by actions. Today’s IICD report represents a major step forward in this regard.

“We look forward to the reports, scheduled for October and January, of the Independent Monitoring Commission, which will address the question of paramilitary and criminal activity.

“We strongly believe that the interests of everyone in Northern Ireland and throughout these islands are best served by the earliest practicable restoration of the devolved institutions of the Good Friday Agreement. We recognise that trust and confidence will take time to rebuild but we hope that today’s developments will provide a vital stimulus. For their part the Governments will do everything we can to facilitate progress.

“The completion of IRA decommissioning makes it all the more urgent that loyalist paramilitary activity be brought to an end and that all loyalist arms be decommissioned.

“We would like to express our profound appreciation for the work of General de Chastelain and his colleagues on the IICD. They have made an invaluable contribution to the process of building and assuring peace. We are deeply indebted to them for the professional and painstaking manner in which they have carried out this part of their mandate.”

BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Toddler attacked ‘for GAA flag’

A two-year-old boy suffered a cut face after the car he was travelling in was attacked because it was flying a Tyrone GAA flag, police have said.

The toddler was in a car with his mother and grandmother at Hospital Road in Omagh at about 2100 BST on Sunday when a bottle smashed a window.

After the incident, the women were told they would get “more of the same” if they did not take down the flag.

Several people were arrested as trouble flared and rival gangs clashed.

It followed Tyrone’s victory over Kerry in the All-Ireland gaelic football final in Dublin on Sunday afternoon.

A petrol bomb, missiles and fireworks were thrown at police in Cookstown and a number of cars were burnt out in the town and in nearby Dungannon.

The police said rival groups clashed in William Street and the Old Town area in the centre of Cookstown on Sunday night.

One car was burned at the scene.

In another incident in Omagh, three men wearing Tyrone shirts got out of a car and assaulted three youths at about 2245 BST.

One of them was taken to hospital and treated for suspected concussion.

Petrol

Earlier in Campsie, police received a number of reports of youths squirting water pistols containing petrol at Tyrone fans.

In Edenaveys, a seven-year-old boy was injured when a brick was thrown at a bus returning from the All-Ireland football final in Dublin.

The boy, from Dungannon, was hit in the face at Newry Road. A 12-year-old girl was treated for shock.

In Dungannon, a car was burnt out and another damaged by fire close to the Stangmore Roundabout on the Moy Road.

Stones were thrown at cars carrying fans returning from the match in Dublin.

Meanwhile, in Strabane a press photographer was attacked as he took pictures of celebrating GAA fans.

He was not badly injured, but his camera was damaged.

IOL

26/09/2005 - 16:32:13

There was little doubt in the IRA heartland of South Armagh that the terror group’s war with Britain had finally ended.

As the decommissioning body declared the Provos had dumped their massive arsenal, the people of Crossmaglen sat back and waited for the rest of Northern Ireland to react.

Pub-goers in the busy town showed little emotion or surprise as General John de Chastelain confirmed one of the world’s most ruthless terrorist groups had destroyed its arms.

Local farmers and pensioners sheltering from the elements sat glued to television screens in the bars as the general gave his verdict.

On the bustling streets outside, murals and billboards celebrating atrocities against security forces had become weather-beaten, no longer the shrines they once were.

But as the heavy drone of British military aircraft interrupted the silence in Short’s Bar, questions were fired from customers gathered at the counter.

In the tiny pub where Labour MP Clare Short was brought up, the regulars were quick to realise the significance of the events of the last few days.

But for those who witnessed 35 years of shooting and bombing and some of the most ferocious and imaginative guerrilla warfare, questions remained.

One elderly farmer asked: “Will it be enough?”

The three-man independent decommissioning team insists the IRA has met its commitments to dump its arms.

They revealed the Provos had given an inventory of weapons which satisfied what Irish and British intelligence forces believed they had.

Gen de Chastelain recorded a range of weaponry from high-calibre machine guns to missiles – and the IRA’s deadliest weapon, the mortar bomb.

But the people of Crossmaglen do not expect unionists to go rushing into power-sharing and accepted there will be difficulties ahead.

As the general’s press conference dragged on, a customer in the bar said: “They are trying to explain the unexplainable. That’s why there’s so many questions.”

IOL

26/09/2005 - 16:35:51

Democratic Unionist Party leader the Reverend Ian Paisley said there had been no transparent verification of IRA decommissioning in today’s announcement.

He said today’s announcement showed the “duplicity and dishonesty of the two governments and the IRA'’.

He said there had been a “cunning cover-up'’ and no announcement of what had been decommissioned, as was required by unionists.

He said the announcement by General de Chastelain did not meet the requirements of proof the unionist people demanded.

The promises of British Prime Minister Tony Blair that decommissioning would be transparent and verifiable had been broken, said the Democratic Unionist Party leader.

Today was to be the day when the gun was finally take out of Irish politics, according to the IRA, he said.

But the people of Northern Ireland watched this afternoon an announcement which “illustrates more than ever the duplicity of the two governments and the IRA,” said Mr Paisley.

Mr Paisley and his party are crucial to any progress with the political process and he made it clear he was unimpressed with the announcement as a means of kick-starting progress.

Speaking at a Belfast news conference he said: “Instead of openness there was the cunning tactics of a cover up, the complete failure from general John de Chastelain to deal with the vital numbers of decommissioning.

“We do not know how many guns, the amounts of ammunition, explosives – nor were we told how the decommissioning was carried out.”

He said also that the ‘so called’ independent witnesses were “appointed by the IRA”.

And he said not one iota of evidence had been given to verify that what the IRA had told the IICD was accurate.

online.ie

2005-09-26 16:20:06+01

No drinks were on the house in true blue Sandy Row today.

The scale of IRA disarmament may have gone down well in London, Dublin and Washington, but in this small corner of the United Kingdom, sceptical loyalists enjoying an early afternoon pint were far from impressed.

The prevailing mood in the Royal Bar, one of Belfast’s landmark pubs, just opposite from where a new Glasgow Rangers Supporters club is under construction, did not resonate with the rebuilding process which republicans claimed was underway after giving up their weapons of war.

Jim Stout, enjoying a glass of lager, said: “How can anybody expect us to trust the word of the IRA when they have murdered and bombed us for 30 years?”

Friends at the same rectangular table shook their heads in agreement as he also predicted a grim future on the dreary streets outside.

Mr Stout warned: “There is going to be a reversal of roles.

“We (Protestants) are going to turn into republicans and become terrorists instead of freedom fighters.

“We always classed ourselves as defenders of Ulster but we are going to have to change that.”

Photographic evidence he said, would have been more reassuring than the word and assessment of General de Chastelain.

“This is a working class war so working class people need to know if it is true or if it is not true,” the 35-year-old added.

Mr Stout claimed dissident republicans remained a genuine threat.

He asked: “What about the Continuity IRA, the Irish National Liberation Army and the Real IRA?

“Are they going to hand over their guns as well?”

Frank Brown, 52, ordered the next round as he dismissed the prospect of loyalist terror groups scrapping their arsenals.

He said: “As far as loyalist decommissioning goes - no way.

“There is too much of a threat from those other republican organisations.

“And how will the IRA control the dissidents if they have no weapons?”

A short distance from the bar, Martha Acheson took a break from serving customers in Just William’s Café.

The DUP voter’s mood matched the grey skies and light rain outside.

Mrs Acheson, 69, said: “They will never give up their weapons. It is lot of rubbish.

“The Protestant people do not trust them.”

She also questioned why the British government has not asked the IRA to return the £26.5m (€39m) stolen from the Northern Bank last December.

The pensioner added: “In my opinion that money was to buy arms and they are still doing their bad deeds.”

An imposing mural, featuring a masked gunman, greets visitors to the street with the following words: “You are now entering Loyalist Sandy Row, heartland of the South Belfast Ulster Freedom Fighters.”

As a barometer of public opinion it paints an accurate picture of how unionists across the North will greet the ICD statement.

A senior figure in the Ulster Political Research Group said the IRA move was groundbreaking but forecast it would not be taken at face value.

The source said: “The face that they have decommissioned anything is a massive development. There is no doubt about it.

“But they are always going to have enough to defend themselves.

“They are never going to be caught with their trousers down again the way they were in the Falls Road 30 years ago.

“There is always going to be problems with criminality and drug dealers and they will have to defend their communities.”

On the scale of the announcement, the source said: “It is the most significant gesture ever but it brings Ian Paisley a step closer to shaking hands with Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness on the steps of Stormont.

“Whether he is prepared to accept that or whether he will delay it as long as possible remains to be seen.

“If we are going to have a future then that is where it has got to start. Once that handshake takes place it is a whole new scenario.”

Recent events, such as the release of the Shankill bomber Sean Kelly and the rapidity of demilitarisation - ahead of any IRA announcement - were widely viewed by unionists as a series of concessions to republicans, the UPRG official said.

And he said it was vital the British government and the Police Service of Northern Ireland pay heed to the views and concerns of the unionist community.

On the street, which is lined with red, white and blue bunting, Dawn Smith felt betrayed by the British government.

The 41-year-old said: “Everything republicans have asked for - Tony Blair has bent over backwards to accommodate them.

“He has forgotten about the Protestant people.

“This is probably a step forward in the peace process in the (British) government’s eyes but I don’t think there will ever be peace.”

Asked how she felt about the prospect of a united Ireland, Mrs Smith replied: “Sick”.

BBC

The arms body said IRA decommissioning was now complete

The IRA has put all of its weapons beyond use, the head of the arms decommissioning body has said.

General John de Chastelain made the announcement at a news conference accompanied by the two churchmen who witnessed the process.

“We are satisfied that the arms decommissioned represent the totality of the IRA’s arsenal.”

Welcoming the move, Prime Minister Tony Blair said IRA decommissioning had been “finally accomplished”.

The general said: “We have observed and verified events to put beyond use very large quantities of arms which we believe include all the arms in the IRA’s possession.

“We have also made an inventory of them.”

“At the end of the process it demonstrated to us - and would have demonstrated to anyone who might have been with us - that beyond any shadow of doubt, the arms of the IRA have now been decommissioned”
Church witnesses

The arms included a full range of ammunition, rifles, machine guns, mortars, missiles, handguns, explosives, explosive substances and other arms including all the categories described in the estimates provided by the security services, he said.

“In September 2004, the commission got estimates of numbers and quantities of arms from IRA security forces in both jurisdictions.

“Our new inventory is consistent with these estimates. We are satisfied that the arms decommissioning represents the totality of the IRA’s arsenal.”

The IRA announced an end to its armed campaign in July.

The republican organisation said it would follow a democratic path ending more than 30 years of violence.

General de Chastelain’s report confirming that IRA decommissioning had been completed was given to the British and Irish governments earlier on Monday.

He described IRA decommissioning as “an important milestone towards the completion of its task to achieve decommissioning by all paramilitary groups”.

FULL TEXT OF IRA STATEMENT

“The leadership of Oglaigh na hEireann (IRA) announced on 28 July that we had authorised our representative to engage with the IICD to complete the process of verifiably putting arms beyond use. The IRA leadership can now confirm that the process of putting arms beyond use has been completed.
P O’Neill”

The churchmen who witnessed the process were Catholic priest Father Alex Reid and ex-Methodist president Harold Good.

Their statement said: “The experience of seeing this with our own eyes, on a minute-to-minute basis, provided us with evidence so clear and of its nature so incontrovertible that at the end of the process it demonstrated to us - and would have demonstrated to anyone who might have been with us - that beyond any shadow of doubt, the arms of the IRA have now been decommissioned.”

The churchmen said they regarded IRA decommissioning as an “accomplished act”.

General de Chastelain, Andrew Sens and Tauno Nieminen - the commissioners of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning - have been in Ireland overseeing the latest round of decommissioning since the beginning of September.

ARMS INVENTORY
–Ammunition
–Rifles
–Machine guns
–Mortars
–Missiles
–Handguns
–Explosives

Prime Minister Tony Blair said the completion of decommissioning was “an important step in the transition from conflict to peace in Northern Ireland”.

“The true importance of today is that these weapons can never again be used to inflict suffering and create more victims,” he added.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said that it was a “landmark development” and appealed to unionists not to “underestimate the importance” of the move.

“The weapons of the IRA are gone, and are gone in a manner which has been verified and witnessed,” he said.

However, unionists are unhappy there has been no photographic evidence of decommissioning and reacted with scepticism to the report.

DUP assembly member Maurice Morrow said he felt it would still take years before devolution could be restored.

“We haven’t heard anything here today which is going to convince unionists that this is for real,” he said.

In a statement the Ulster Unionist Party said it regretted that the move had “failed to maximise public confidence”.

“It is imperative that the movement’s criminal empire be dismantled as well,” it said.

BBC

Johnny Adair spent 39 days in jail on remand

Former Loyalist terrorist leader Johnny Adair has been given a restraining order after he admitted harassment.

Adair, 41, and William Woods, 37, pleaded guilty at Bolton Magistrates’ Court to harassing two former members of their gang between April and August.

The court was told they had threatened violence against fellow former Ulster Defence Association (UDA) members Stephen McQuaid and Kerry Thompson.

All four fled to Bolton from Northern Ireland following an internal UDA feud.

Stephen Sargent, prosecuting, said Mr McQuaid and his partner Miss Thompson had wanted to move on from their UDA past.

He said: “It seems to me that these people fell into two categories.

“There were those who, in a different environment, have seized the opportunity to start a new life and put the past behind them, and there are those who are trying to keep to the ethos that the others left behind in Belfast, and that has led to friction.

“It has led to the harassment of those who want to distance themselves from their former life.”

Police warned Adair on 29 April after Miss Thompson reported him for driving slowly past her while she pushed her baby in a buggy along the road and grinning falsely at her.

She was worried Adair, of Chorley New Road, Bolton, had discovered where she lived, the court heard.

Grabbed cricket bat

On 15 August, Woods, of Halliwell Road, Bolton, shouted abuse at Mr McQuaid and then followed him into a laundrette and punched him in the back of the head, as Mr McQuaid’s six-year-old son looked on.

Later the same day, Adair and Woods went to their victims’ home and threatened them.

Mr McQuaid grabbed a cricket bat but police arrived before the situation could escalate.

The next day, Adair and Woods, along with a gang of men, returned to the house and Woods threatened to kill Mr McQuaid.

Andrew Costello, defending, said the incidents were idle threats and Mr McQuaid and Miss Thompson had participated in the feud.

He added that Adair was trying to put his past behind him, saying: “His only objective in coming to Bolton is coming to spend quality time with his family that has been lacking in the past.”

Adair and Woods were each sentenced to 39 days in prison but were released as they had already served that time on remand.

Both men were ordered to pay £150 costs.

BBC

The arms body said IRA decommissioning was now complete

The IRA has put all of its weapons beyond use, the head of the arms decommissioning body has said.

General John de Chastelain made the announcement at a news conference accompanied by the two churchmen who witnessed the process.

“We are satisfied that the arms decommissioned represent the totality of the IRA’s arsenal.”

However, unionists are unhappy there has been no photographic evidence of decommissioning.

The general said: “We have observed and verified events to put beyond use very large quantities of arms which we believe include all the arms in the IRA’s possession.

“We have also made an inventory of them.”

The IRA announced an end to its armed campaign in July.

The republican organisation said it would follow a democratic path ending more than 30 years of violence.

General de Chastelain’s report confirming that IRA decommissioning had been completed was given to the British and Irish governments earlier on Monday.

The churchmen who witnessed the process were Catholic priest Father Alex Reid and ex-Methodist president Harold Good.

Their statement said: “The experience of seeing this with our own eyes, on a minute-to-minute basis, provided us with evidence so clear and of its nature so incontrovertible that at the end of the process it demonstrated to us - and would have demonstrated to anyone who might have been with us - that beyond any shadow of doubt, the arms of the IRA have now been decommissioned.”

The churchmen said they regarded IRA decommissioning as an “accomplished act”.

General de Chastelain, Andrew Sens and Tauno Nieminen - the commissioners of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning - have been in Ireland overseeing the latest round of decommissioning since the beginning of September.

Unionists earlier reacted with scepticism to the report.

DUP MP Nigel Dodds said decommissioning had to be about building and instilling confidence in the unionist community.

It was “absolutely vital” to have photographic evidence of decommissioning, he told BBC News.

“That has now gone and it is going to be a lot harder, a lot more difficult and a lot more challenging to get people to accept that what was agreed last December has been set aside and now somehow we are asked to proceed as if that didn’t matter.”

Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said General de Chastelain’s report had needed to be unambiguous.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan said the British and Irish governments must now move ahead with implementing the Good Friday Agreement.

“Trust has been damaged by the IRA’s failure to decommission before now and Sinn Fein’s arguments that the Agreement didn’t even require it,” he said.

“But the fact is that now it has happened and the evidence is there - if General de Chastelain’s statement is clear and supporting evidence is clear - then we can take it to the full.”

Sinn Fein’s Alex Maskey said it was a “historic day, not only for republicans but for everyone else in society”.

“I think republicans will be saying today that the onus is now very clearly on the shoulders of the DUP and both governments,” he said.

Belfast Telegraph

Move to be verified by church witnesses

By Noel McAdam
26 September 2005

History was being made today as the International Decommissioning body confirmed that the Provisional IRA has put its arsenal beyond use.

General John de Chastelain and his two fellow commissioners were briefing the British and Irish Governments this morning ahead of publicly announcing this afternoon that the IRA has disarmed.

Their assessment will then be verified, at least in part, by separate statements from the independent Catholic and Protestant witnesses - Redemptorist priest Father Alex Reid and former Methodist President, the Reverend Harold Good.

It remained to be seen, however, how much detail the Commissioners and the witnesses would be able to give - and the degree to which their assessments would satisfy unionists.

A key element will be whether an inventory of IRA weaponry and ammunition will be provided - although the DUP was told after the Leeds Castle talks that that would only come when all paramilitary groups have decommissioned.

The Provo arsenal is thought to have included stockpiles of Kalashnikov rifles, mortars, machine guns, Semtex explosives and ammunition - but it remains unclear whether the Commissioners and witnesses will be able to reveal in detail what has been put ‘beyond use’ - and how it was done.

The stage could be set for further disputes, however, depending on the scale and nature of weapons decommissioned.

Nevertheless, the move was being hailed as significant and historic by many commentators.

The British and Irish Governments were expected to issue their responses - and a further statement was also anticipated from the IRA.

But the DUP appeared to be preparing to dismiss the IRA move as inadequate because of insufficient transparency and evidence of what exactly has transpired.

DUP leader Reverend Ian Paisley declined to make any immediate comment today but his deputy, Peter Robinson, said republicans must ensure that the transparency of decommissioning is maximised.

And even if decommissioning was properly unveiled, he warned, it alone was not the “trigger” for devolution. His party would still require that all IRA paramilitary and criminal activity had ended and time to assess whether promises to this effect were being implemented.

“To the extent that republicans bowl short on any and all of these issues they, and they alone, will have contributed to delaying the devolving of powers to a local administration,” he said.

Senior Sinn Fein negotiator, Martin McGuinness, said, however, the formal end of the IRA campaign would place a huge responsibility on the leadership of the DUP to “re-engage in the political process”.

General de Chastelain, Andrew Sens and recently re-appointed third commissioner, Tauno Nieminen, who make up the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, have been overseeing the latest ‘event’ since the beginning of this month.

Today’s report, sent to the two Governments before being made public, comes almost exactly two months after the Provisionals’ July 28 statement that its units were standing down.

Most of the decommissioning is thought to have taken place in the Republic but it remained unknown today how many disarmament events and sites were involved.

Secretary of State, Peter Hain, who is expected to unveil the details of a number of already-announced initiatives to boost unionist confidence later this week, said republicans had to deliver on their promises.

But once unionists knew decommissioning had been credible and had been put in place, moves could then be made towards restoring devolved government in Northern Ireland, he said.

The next two reports from the Independent Monitoring Commission, the second not expected until around next January, will be “critical benchmarks,” Mr Hain has said.

Belfast Telegraph

By Brian Walker
26 September 2005

Secretary of State Peter Hain will be keenly watching to see how General John de de Chastelain and his team as well as the two clerical witnesses handle the public delivery of their reports this afternoon - crucial in building unionist confidence.

“Peter Hain will be watching it on television like everybody else,” said an official source.

Mr Hain is likely to be joined by hundreds of other Northern Ireland watchers at the Labour Party conference in Brighton, where the ups and downs of the peace process will attract more attention than at any time since the Good Friday Agreement.

This is guaranteed by the republican movement’s shrewd choice of timing, to coincide with the conference.

The impact of the announcements will be strung out for much of the conference week, with Tony Blair’s leader’s speech tomorrow and Peter Hain’s Northern Ireland report due on Wednesday.

In advance of the announcements, Mr Hain warned that the de Chastelain report “must be credible enough to convince unionists.”

Once unionists knew decommissioning was credible and had been put in place, moves could be made towards restoring devolved government in Northern Ireland, he said.

In his conference speech on Wednesday, Mr Hain is expected to make a controversial offer of balanced concessions to both sides to set the scene for political talks.

For republicans, legislation to allow the on-the-run former prisoners to go home will be introduced at Westminster.

After the recent riots and continuing intimidation, balancing sweeteners to loyalists are seen as more important as ever.

With rates concessions for Orange Halls already in the bag, fresh investment in deprived loyalist areas and Ulster Scots culture is now in prospect.

The latest, perhaps decisive, act of weapons disposal is intended to implement the IRA’s statement on July 28, described by Tony Blair at the time as “an act of unparalleled magnitude”.

Sinn Fein chief negotiator Martin McGuinness claimed the breakthrough could be more significant than the Provisionals’ 1994 ceasefire.

Accusing Mr McGuinness of an about turn over the significance of decommissioning, the SDLP leader Mark Durkan said that the Sinn Fein negotiator had once said decommissioning was irrelevant, it was the silence of the guns that mattered.

“Now for Sinn Fein, decommissioning is even more important than the guns’ silence,” Mr Durkan told a Brighton fringe meeting last night.

“It should be taken forward, not by side deals or seeing how Sinn Fein or the DUP can be squared over policing, but by delivering on the Good Friday Agreement. ”

Anticipating the decommissioning reports, the Conservative’s shadow Northern Ireland Secretary David Lidington said full decommissioning had to be properly verified.

Belfast Telegraph

By Alf McCreary
26 September 2005

The senior clergy playing a key role with General John de Chastellain’s team as independent observers in the IRA arms decommissioning process are known in Church circles as trusted peace-makers with a strong record in cross-community and reconciliation work.

It is understood that the Rev Dr Harold Good and Fr Alex Reid accompanied the General to the republican arms dumps and remained with him at all times, and that the visits were made recently over a period of weeks.

It is believed that significant decommissioning has taken place, and a source close to the process said: “The details will form a very important message for the whole world to hear.”

The two clergy are scheduled to issue their own independent statement when the General addresses a Press conference at the Culloden Hotel early this afternoon.

The Rev Dr Harold Good is a former President of the Methodist Church in Ireland and comes from a family with strong roots in the Church going back generations.

From 1973 to 1979 he had the key role as Centre Director with the Corrymeela Community in Ballycastle, now in its 40th year and which itself has a strong track-record in peace and community work.

He has also held a large number of congregational posts and has served the Methodist Church as minister in Ballynahinch, University Road, Belfast, Knock and other areas.

He has built a strong reputation as a bridge-builder, and his wide experience in this area and his integrity in inter-community and inter-Church work gives him an authoritative base as an independent observer in the decommissioning process.

Fr Alex Reid of Clonard Monastery is also a notable bridge-builder and he has worked closely with last year’s Moderator the Very Rev Ken Newell of Fisherwick Presbyterian church.

They have been instrumental, with others, in developing the Fisherwick-Clonard Fellowship, which encourages Protestant-Roman Catholic dialogue and co-operation, as well as interaction with other faiths, notably Islam.

Fr Reid is also credited with significant behind the scenes work with the republican movement on a number of important and politically sensitive initiatives, including the first IRA ceasefire in 1994.

Both men are realists and are widely regarded as sufficiently experienced in grass-roots Church work to be credible witnesses of significant decommissioning.

It remains to be seen, however, whether they could help to convince sceptical unionists and others about the latest IRA moves, but their integrity in Church and inter-community groups would be unquestioned.

Belfast Telegraph

Tom Brady
26 September 2005

BBC photo

The Provisional IRA completed its long-awaited final act of decommissioning last Friday when its vast arsenal, contained in four dumps, was put beyond use.

The decommissioning took several days to complete and followed direct contact between an IRA representative and General John de Chastelain. Members of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning had been on stand-by early in the week awaiting contact.

But preliminary arrangements had already been under way since the IRA announced last July that its leadership had authorised its representative to engage with the commission to complete the process of verifiably putting its arms beyond use, in a way which would further enhance public confidence and to conclude it quickly.

The IRA said its ruling army council had also decided to invite two independent witnesses, from the Protestant and Catholic Churches, to testify to the decommissioning act.

One of the reasons for the collapse of the peace talks last December was the DUP insistence that the act be filmed and the refusal of the IRA to comply. It will now be up to the unionist parties to accept whether all of the IRA’s arsenal has been destroyed.

Since December, decommissioning had become less important as an issue as the emphasis switched to an IRA commitment to end all criminality and to indicate the movement would become involved in the new policing structures.

According to security sources, the arsenal is believed to have been contained in four dumps, all located on the northern half of the island, with some of them sited in this jurisdiction.

In preparation for the move, IRA quartermasters had moved arms from local hides to the four centralised dumps with the emphasis on Semtex explosive and the heavy weapons and rifles regarded by the IRA as their ‘offensive’ arms.

Senior security sources said they had been aware from their intelligence throughout the latter half of last week that the decommissioning process was in train and the final pieces of the arms ‘jigsaw’ were being fitted into place.

But neither the Governments nor the security forces North and South attempted to interfere in the process and total control was left to Gen de Chastelain.

The Justice Department said last night the decommissioning body had been in contact with it, but Minister Michael McDowell would not make any comment until after Gen de Chastelain officially announced that the act had been accomplished.

Four shipments from Libya in the mid-1980s comprised the vast bulk of the arsenal. It has been in place since being landed at Clogga Strand, near Arklow, Co Wicklow, in 1985 and 1986. The Provisionals managed to keep it secret until the capture of the Eksund gun running boat off the French coast in late 1987, despite building a huge network of bunkers.

Investigations established that the consignments included four tonnes of Semtex explosive, 1,270 AKM assault rifles, 60 light machineguns, 25 heavy machineguns, 300 revolvers, 460 grenades and parts of Sam 7 missiles.

The Irish News Online

By Staff Reporter
26 September 2005

Drafts of the final public statement made by Padraig Pearse, have been found 75 years after they were written.

The pencilled documents of the Republican icon and hero are rough versions of the press releases submitted from the besieged Dublin GPO during the 1916 Easter Rising.

In 1919 the papers were stored in the attic of the Drogheda home of Joe Stanley, a Dublin printer who acted as Pearse’s unofficial press agent throughout the Rising.

Over 75 years later, one of Stanley’s grandchildren found the faded pieces of official GPO paper and read the lines, “An Irish Republic was proclaimed in Dublin on Easter Monday, 24th April at 12 noon.”

The words turned out to belong to the last statements of Padraig Pearse and judging by the value of other Rising memorabilia could be in excess of tens of thousands of euro.

Pearse’s surrender document was recently auctioned for E700,000.

And original copies of the Provisional Government’s Proclamation of Independence sell for up to E390,000.

The statements, which have been verified by the Irish National Museum are now set to be published in a book about Joe Stanley by historian Tom Reilly.

BBC

A report confirming IRA decommissioning has been completed has been given to the British and Irish governments at a meeting in Northern Ireland.

General John de Chastelain, head of the body overseeing the disarmament, is to give a news conference later with two independent church witnesses.

They are Catholic priest Father Alex Reid and ex-Methodist president the Reverend Harold Good.

The IRA announced an end to its armed campaign in July.

The republican organisation said it would follow a democratic path ending more than 30 years of violence.

“I think republicans will be saying today that the onus is now very clearly on the shoulders of the DUP and both governments”.
Alex Maskey
Sinn Fein

Arms story about to unfold

Statements are also expected on Monday from the IRA, both governments and Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams.

DUP MP Nigel Dodds said: “What we have said all along about decommissioning in the post 9/11 world is this - that it is about building and instilling confidence in the unionist community.

“In order to do that, this was a position that all parties and all governments had agreed on - was that it was absolutely vital to have that visual aspect.

“That has now gone and it is going to be a lot harder, a lot more difficult and a lot more challenging to get people to accept that what was agreed last December has been set aside and now somehow we are asked to proceed as if that didn’t matter.”

Former Methodist president Harold Good was a witness

Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said General de Chastelain’s report must be unambiguous.

“Obviously we need to get some greater sense of what has actually occurred instead of the general speaking in code,” he said.

“One of the steps he could take is to give us an inventory of what has actually been decommissioned and disposed of.”

SDLP leader Mark Durkan said the British and Irish governments must now move ahead with implementing the Good Friday Agreement.

“Trust has been damaged by the IRA’s failure to decommission before now and Sinn Fein’s arguments that the Agreement didn’t even require it,” he said.

“But the fact is that now it has happened and the evidence is there - if General de Chastelain’s statement is clear and supporting evidence is clear - then we can take it to the full.”

‘Latest round’

Sinn Fein’s Alex Maskey said this would be a “historic day, not only for republicans but for everyone else in society”.

“I think republicans will be saying today that the onus is now very clearly on the shoulders of the DUP and both governments,” he said.

Alliance leader David Ford said he was “encouraged” by the news.

Fr Alex Reid helped broker first IRA ceasefire

However, he said there were “crucial questions” for the republican movement, including whether or not they were prepared “to accept the legitimacy of the northern and southern states with respect to policing and criminal justice”.

General de Chastelain, Andrew Sens and Tauno Nieminen - the commissioners of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning - have been in Ireland overseeing the latest round of decommissioning since the beginning of September.

BBC Northern Ireland security editor Brian Rowan said what is important at this stage is how the story of decommissioning is told by those who witnessed it.

“There is a sceptical DUP audience looking in. So it is important that detail is given,” he said.

“Is General de Chastelain convinced that all IRA weapons have now been dealt with and how much will the witnesses be allowed to tell?”

Professor Paul Bew from Queen’s University, Belfast, predicted that any move back to self-government would be a slow process.

General John de Chastelain expected to report on arms move

“There is a widespread assumption here that it will take time to convince the unionist people of Northern Ireland that Sinn Fein has become a party just like the others.

“We are into a period of several months, if not years, of political delay yet.”

Speaking on Sunday, Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain said any move on IRA decommissioning must be credible enough to convince unionists.

“The people of Northern Ireland will want to see it actually implemented,” he said.

He said once unionists knew decommissioning was credible and had been put in place, moves could be made towards restoring devolved government in Northern Ireland.

The Irish News Online

By Margaret Canning
26 September 2005

LAURA, her nurse and a Romanian hospital administrator stayed with Michelle and Martin Burns, from Downpatrick, for seven weeks when she came to Ireland for her life-saving operation.

The generous couple got involved in Laura’s case when a friend of Martin’s, who is part of the Ballynoe Romania Team, asked them to look after the little girl during her stay.

“We had all three of them and I suppose it did bring a lot of responsibility,” Martin (41) said yesterday.

“We were nearly sure that Laura’s operation would be straightforward enough even though it did carry some risk for her. But we couldn’t deny the chance to help somebody and save a life.”

Martin said he and his wife were looking forward to Laura being more robust on her next visit, which could happen as soon as next weekend.

“I hope she will be able to get out and about more,” he said.

But he said that even in her sickly condition, Laura was a joy to be around.

“She is a bubbly wee thing. She’s very smiley and very content in herself. It was a joy to have her in the house,” Martin said.

And as she regained strength after her operation, Laura be-haved like any other mischievous toddler.

“Once we got her bulked up, she would crawl over to the TV and start fiddling with it, which she knew rightly was something she wouldn’t be allowed to do,” Martin joked.

“We have a crossbreed collie laborador dog called Suki, and she loved getting out to play with him.”

The couple, who work with special-needs children and adults, have followed Laura’s progress closely since she went home to Romania. Martin said he and Michelle had developed a lasting bond with Laura.

“We do feel close to her now and there is a link there. I hope that when she does come over every so often, she will always stay with us,” he said.

The Irish News Online

By Seanin Graham Health Correspondent
26 September 2005

A ROMANIAN child who received life-saving heart surgery in Belfast five months ago is to make a return trip after astounding doctors with a near- miraculous recovery.

Three-year-old Laura Bodi will travel to the Royal Belfast Hos-pital for Sick Children in coming weeks to allow surgeons to assess her progress.

Laura was born with a hole in her heart and was given just a year to live by Romanian doctors in January.

Students from St Malachy’s Col-lege, in north Belfast, along with charity workers in Ballynoe, Co Down, embarked on a fundraising campaign to fly her to Belfast for the emergency operation.

The fundraisers – who have merged into an approved charity, ‘Impact Romania’ – are now anxiously waiting for Laura’s visa to be renewed so that she can receive her first major check-up.

Accompanying Laura will be Romanian teacher and hospital worker Veronka Torma, who hopes to shadow a play therapist on the children’s ward in Belfast.

Francie Toner, a teacher at St Malachy’s, visited Laura in her home town of Baraolt, in central Romania, two months ago.

“Laura is an unbelievable success story and we are really looking forward to seeing her again. She has been moved permanently to the orphanage [in the town] where she is receiving great care.

“This child spent most her young life in a hospital where she was very sick and became malnourished. Her mental development was also affected.

“To watch her now is an inspiration. She is a different child. We are also looking forward to meeting again with Veronka, who is a fantastic and dedicated hospital care worker.

“In Baraolt they have no play therapists. Veronka hopes to learn new skills and bring them back to the hospital where there are many sick, abandoned children.”

It is understood that Laura will stay with a Co Down family who cared for her during her life-changing operation.

“There will be no shortage of people wanting to look after Laura as everyone who meets her takes to the child,” Francie said.

A spokeswoman for the hospital confirmed that arr-angements had been put in place for the toddler’s latest assessment.

BBC

Community workers and councillors in west Belfast are to hold a public meeting to discuss anti-social behaviour following weekend attacks.

An elderly couple suffered shock when fireworks were pushed through their letterbox at Gransha Park on Saturday.

The devices ignited, filling the house with smoke.

Police at the scene and at another incident in Andersonstown were attacked with stones, fireworks and petrol bombs.

West Belfast Sinn Fein councillor Michael Ferguson, who blamed drunken youths for the incidents, said it was “lucky in both cases that people were not injured in hospital or dead”.

Injured

“Local Sinn Fein councillors and I will be convening meetings in the Gransha area to support the elderly victims and we will also be discussing with businesses along this road drink-related issues,” he said.

Two police officers were slightly injured when they came under attack by a crowd of about 150 youths on the Andersonstown Road.

Trouble began at 2200 BST after police and fire crews arrived at a petrol station on the Andersonstown Road when a gas cylinder was set alight.

One policeman suffered a head injury and a policewoman received a leg injury after officers were attacked with bricks and other missiles.

Five Land Rovers were also damaged. One man and a teenager were arrested in connection with the disturbance.