INLA decision to end violence given cautious welcome

THE decision of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) to end violence showed Northern Ireland was leaving the horrors of its past behind, it was claimed yesterday.

The Republican paramilitary group announced an end to a 30-year campaign of violence that saw it claim more than 100 lives during the Troubles.

Confirmation that the splinter group, linked to infamous attacks such as the murder of Conservative MP Airey Neave in 1979, was to formally end its campaign came as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said violent republicanism had no support among Irish-Americans.

The Secretary of State was in Dublin yesterday and will also travel to Belfast for talks with Stormont political leaders as they broker an historic deal that will see Republicans and Unionists share responsibility for running the region’s justice system.

Deputy leader of the SDLP Alasdair McDonnell said the INLA decision and the continued American support for the peace process reflected the wishes of the people.

“Slowly but surely we are putting the horrors of the past 40 years behind us,” said the South Belfast MP.

“I detect as I go about my business on the streets of Belfast the steady movement of people of all persuasions towards peace and towards total opposition to violence of any sort.

“The vast majority of people want a life and a livelihood for their families and they expect their political leaders to do all they can to ensure that life and livelihood is available to them.”

The INLA announcement came during an oration at the grave of one of its founders, Seamus Costello, at a cemetery in Bray. He was shot dead by the IRA over 30 years ago.

The organisation said it renounced violence and will decommission its weapons.

Earlier this year, the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force decommissioned, while the loyalist Ulster Defence Association also started to put its weapons beyond use.

In 2005, the IRA announced an end to its campaign, but dissident Republican groups such as the so-called Real IRA and the Continuity IRA have continued to launch attacks.

The dissident Republican groups claimed responsibility for the murders of two soldiers at Massereene barracks in Co Antrim and a police officer in Craigavon, Co Armagh, in March.

Ms Clinton today said there was no financial support for the “evil enterprise” of the Real IRA from American sympathisers. Dissident Republicans were “out of step and out of time,” she said.

The INLA was formed in the early 1970s and was known as a brutally violent organisation that engaged in bitter internal feuds. In 1979 it claimed the life of Conservative Shadow Secretary for Northern Ireland Airey Neave, a close associate of Margaret Thatcher, who was killed when a booby trap bomb exploded under his car at the House of Commons.

In 1982 the group was responsible for one of the largest death tolls of the Troubles when it murdered 17 people in a bomb attack on the Droppin’ Well pub in Ballykelly, Co Derry.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams welcomed the expected INLA statement, but added a note of caution.

“Given the history of the INLA there will undoubtedly be some scepticism about today’s statement. However, if it is followed by the actions that are necessary, this is a welcome a development,” he said.