February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
In stark contrast, the British and Irish governments welcomed the move as a significant step forward towards restoring power-sharing in Belfast and a historic development towards a permanent peace in Ireland.
The Sinn Fein president, Gerry Adams, said the move was a “defining moment in the peace process” and that an opportunity now existed to build a democratic future “with all putting their shoulders to the wheel.”
Adams said: “We have a huge responsibility to make sure no-one dies, or is injured or imprisoned for any incident arising out of political conflict,” but he also warned there was a huge onus on the two governments.
Sinn Fein chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness, hailed the move as “a momentous day for peace. It is, in my view, a tremendous advance, a historic advance, for all the people of Ireland.
“It is the turning of the final page in the whole controversy over IRA arms. It has always been used by unionists as an excuse but now that excuse has effectively been taken away.
“I hope people will recognize that this was done by people who were part of a military organization, who accepted Gerry Adams’s appeal that the way forward now is by purely political means,” he said.
But Ian Paisley was completely dismissive. Without video or photographic evidence, he said, the decommissioning process was a complete failure and a cover-up sponsored by the British and Irish governments.
“Over 35 years ago IRA/Sinn Fein launched its campaign against Ulster’s place in the United Kingdom,” he said, calling the republican arsenal “a hideous monument to their blood letting brutality.”
Paisley said: “This afternoon the people of Northern Ireland watched a program which illustrates more than ever the duplicity and dishonesty of the two governments and the IRA.
“Instead of openness, there was the cunning tactics of cover-up. We do not know how many guns, ammunition and explosives were decommissioned, nor do we know how it was carried out.
“The so-called Independent International Commission for Decommissioning could only say that the proof that all the guns and material of the IRA were decommissioned was in an assurance given to them by the IRA.
“The IICD message was to trust the IRA. The [church] witnesses could only testify that the General was correct in his report and the General had already declared that his report was based on IRA assurances.
“The witnesses were clearly under the control of the General and they were not given any further opportunity to comment during the press conference. It must be clearly stated that both witnesses were approved by the IRA and therefore in no way could be independent,” Paisley said.
“There were no photographs, no detailed inventory and no detail of the destruction of these arms. To describe today’s act as being transparent would be the falsehood of the century.
“Ulster is not for sale and will not be sold,” declared Paisley.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said he anticipated “fears and uncertainties” from the unionist community, saying “they may need time to reflect,” but went on to that all people should “seize the opportunity that is opening in front of us to build a better Ireland for all its people”.
Ahern, who spoke from Government Buildings shortly after de Chastelain’s announcement, said it was a “momentous” day for all of Ireland, and that “finally, after many false starts, the IRA yielded to their will, as expressed in the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement.”
“They have given up their weapons to pursue their aims by exclusively peaceful means.”
The British prime minister, Tony Blair, speaking at the British Labor Party annual conference in Brighton, said it was “an important development and one we have all been waiting for, for a long time.
“I particularly welcome General de Chastelain`s confirmation, that IRA decommissioning is complete, and that the amount of arms and material is consistent with the assessments provided by the security services of the two governments last year,” he said.
“Successive British governments have sought final and complete decommissioning by the IRA for over 10 years. Failure to deliver it had become a major impediment to moving forward the peace process. Today it is finally accomplished,” he said.
“We have made an important step in the transition from conflict to peace in Northern Ireland. If the IMC [Independent Monitoring Commission] confirms that all other activity has ceased, then that transition, as far as the IRA are concerned, will be complete,” he said.
“The involvement of representatives of the Protestant and Catholic faiths as independent witnesses in the process is new and significant and should give added confidence to both communities that IRA decommissioning is both complete and permanent,” Blair said.