Doubts over IRA peace commitment

It is unlikely the IRA will declare that its war is over, a senior Sinn Fein figure claimed today.

As Prime Minster Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's officials examined a final draft of an IRA statement, Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaughlin said its language was unlikely to be in the form that unionists want.

"It is my view that the IRA is unlikely to use the sort of language that unionists have demanded," the Foyle MLA said.

"That's because unionists always consistently have and will demand words that are over and above existing circumstances.

"I think it is unlikely that this statement says the war is over."

Mr Blair and Mr Ahern were due today to make another judgment call on whether they should travel to Northern Ireland to unveil their blueprint for restoring devolution and ending paramilitarism forever.

The two leaders postponed plans to reveal their blueprint last Thursday amid concerns that the IRA's statement would not be enough to convince David Trimble's Ulster Unionists to rejoin a power-sharing government with Sinn Fein.

The IRA announced last night that it had passed a final statement on to the two governments which would be released publicly in the near future.

The provisionals reaffirmed their "commitment to this process" and their "desire to see it succeed".

The IRA statement deals with four issues.

The IRA identified these last night as:

  • The current approach of the IRA to the process and the status of its ceasefire.

  • Their future intentions towards the process.

  • Their attitude to re-engagement with the international decommissioning body and the process of putting arms beyond use.

  • A third act of disarmament to be verified by the decommissioning body under an agreed scheme.

    Mr McLaughlin claimed today the IRA's commitment to the process was not in doubt and he urged others to think what they could do to move the process forward.

    "We would invite others to think how we can all bed down politics so as to advance the objective of taking all of the guns out of circulation," the Sinn Fein chairman added.

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