Paisley: 'Blair must honour his word'

Brotosh Prime Minister Tony Blair was tonight told he must prove over the next few days that he would stick to his word on securing full IRA disarmament.

As British and Irish Government officials tried to concoct a formula for reviving power sharing in Northern Ireland, the Reverend Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionists, insisted that there could be no fudge on the issue of IRA weapons.

With the DUP insisting that comprehensive arms decommissioning is crucial for the restoration of devolved government at Stormont, the North Antrim MP said: “Within the next few days Mr Blair has to prove to the law abiding citizens of Northern Ireland that he is going to keep his promise about the entire decommissioning of all the IRA-Sinn Fein terrorist weaponry and that putting beyond use of these weapons will be done in a way that will satisfy everyone.

“It must be totally transparent and visible to the people whose lives are threatened by these weapons.

“From the outset of negotiations, the DUP has made it clear that there can be no fudge on this issue.”

At the end of talks at Leeds Castle in Kent in September, Mr Blair said he believed the issues of IRA decommissioning and the winding down of all paramilitary activity could be resolved.

A move from the Provisionals was put on hold while Northern Ireland’s parties became embroiled in a dispute over power sharing arrangements.

Republican sources have insisted the IRA will only make its move in the context of a comprehensive, holistic agreement.

Mr Paisley tonight observed that some Sinn Féin members appeared to look on demands for visible IRA decommissioning as an attempt to humiliate the IRA.

He said: “It matters not that families whose loved ones have been murdered by the IRA have their bodies still held by the IRA in graves prepared by the IRA.

“This is not evidently humiliating, but the murdering thugs who did these dastardly deeds are to be excused by acts of decommissioning in darkness from public gaze.

“The DUP is not in the business of accepting a fudge on the issue of decommissioning.

“On this issue there will be no compromise.

“It is now over to Mr Blair. He can keep his word and rid us of the IRA murder gang or he can produce yet another fudge, thus giving the IRA the victory they are demanding.”

Last week, during Northern Ireland Questions at Westminster, Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy and his Security Minister Ian Pearson insisted that there had to be transparency in any future disarmament move by the IRA.

The Provisionals have decommissioned weapons three times. But last October, there was unionist anger that the head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, General John de Chastelain, was unable to give more detail about the disarmament act he had witnessed.

Transparency over decommissioning is seen as being critical to securing unionist support for any peace process deal to restore devolution.

Some unionist sources have suggested the act could be filmed or photographed.

Mr Paisley tonight rounded on David Trimble’s Ulster Unionists, claiming they had done nothing to defend the Union in the current negotiations.

The DUP leader said: “Rather, they are happier to be part of an alliance with Sinn Féin/IRA and the SDLP, supporting not the review of the Agreement but its reinforcement.

“The people of Ulster must stand united on this issue.

“On it rests their doom or deliverance.

“The next few days will prove whether the Prime Minister is an honest broker, or whether he is again seeking to surrender to the IRA ultimatum.”