Kelly says Irish Govt not showing leadership

Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly has accused the Government of failing to show leadership in the peace process.

Speaking in Belfast, Mr Kelly said the Government failed to defend the integrity of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning following its statement on Tuesday about a third act of IRA decommissioning.

Unionists criticised the IICD for failing to give an inventory of the weapons, ammunition and explosives destroyed.

Under the mandate given to it by the Irish and British governments, the IICD is not allowed to reveal such details in public.

Mr Kelly said the UUP’s rejection of the IICD’s statement had infuriated republicans, who believed that a major act of decommissioning was being devalued and overlooked.

Mr Kelly also said today that the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, was fully informed in advance about what the IRA would do on Tuesday and how it would be presented to the public by the IICD.

This completely contradicts what Mr Ahern told the Dáil yesterday when he said he was concerned that the IICD would not reveal enough details about the latest act of decommissioning to restore unionist confidence in the peace process.

Mr Ahern said he was unable to contact the IICD on Monday night and only learned the content of its statement when he travelled to Hillsborough on Tuesday.

The IICD statement was part of a carefully choreographed series of events designed to restore the suspended Northern Assembly, but UUP leader David Trimble’s rejection of the statement has sparked a fresh crisis in the peace process.