IRA heist claim leaves peace hopes in tatters
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said the development was “a serious setback for the political process in Northern Ireland and is corrosive of public confidence”.
While insisting the process could be revived, Mr Ahern said yesterday’s statement by PSNI chief constable Huge Orde blaming the robbery on the IRA made it “more difficult because it damages the levels of trust and confidence we are trying to develop”. In so doing, he tacitly acknowledged the possibility of a long period of political inertia in the North.
Mr Ahern also questioned the degree of honesty which Sinn Féin had brought to recent negotiations. “It is of concern to me more than anything that an operation of this magnitude was obviously being planned at a stage when I was in negotiations with those who would know the leadership of the provisional movement,” he said.
Mr Orde told a press conference in Belfast yesterday the PSNI investigation to date pointed to the IRA being behind the robbery. “In my opinion, the Provisional IRA were responsible for this crime and all main lines of inquiry currently undertaken are in that direction,” he said.
Insisting he had not bowed to political pressure, he said he was making his assessment public because it made “operational sense”.
There was widespread condemnation from unionist parties and the SDLP, whose leader Mark Durkan dismissed IRA denials and described it as a “real blow” to the process.
Sinn Féin’s chief negotiator Martin McGuinness angrily dismissed Mr Orde’s comments as “politically biased allegations”.
“I went to the IRA and asked them about this and I was assured they were not involved,” he said.
He vowed Sinn Féin would “resist any attempt to marginalise or criminalise our party”.
Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern and Northern Secretary Paul Murphy will meet next week to see if they can pick up the pieces of the talks process. The Taoiseach and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are expected to discuss the developments by phone over the weekend and will hold a meeting later this month on Mr Ahern’s return from a visit to China.
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said Mr Ahern and Mr Blair had been “hoodwinked by the republican movement during the negotiations in regard to their supposed commitment to ‘exclusively peaceful and democratic means’”.
There is deep pessimism within the Government about any hope of the process being revived soon.
Justice Minister Michael McDowell yesterday said Mr Orde’s comments justified his insistence that the IRA publicly sever all links with criminality.
“(Sinn Féin) first of all accused me of criminalising IRA volunteers. They then sent out Gerry Adams to say that no IRA volunteer ever commits a crime. Then thirdly, they said that the Governments were wrecking the peace process.
“That game has come to a shuddering end today.”
