McDowell: IRA disarmament delay 'inexcusable'

Justice minister Michael McDowell said today he regretted it had taken seven years so far for the IRA to face up to its responsibilities to decommission.

Speaking in Dublin in advance of the expected IRA statement on its future, he said the commitment had been made under Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

“This Good Friday Agreement is many years old now and I deeply regret that it’s now that the Provisional movement are facing up to their responsibilites under that agreement,” he said.

“That delay is not excusable and the sooner all of these matters are resolved, as far as I am concerned, the better.”

Mr McDowell is regarded as one of the most caustic critics of the IRA and Sinn Féin in recent years.

He has warned that their future statement must lead to full decommissioning, and an abandonment of all criminal activity and the effective end of paramilitarism.

“Everybody knows what’s required and I hope that if the Provisional movement does make a statement on its future intentions, that it will come up to the mark. I hope the Provisional movement realises that and that it doesn’t hold back on any of these important issues,” he said.

Sinn Féin chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness flew out from Dublin Airport to the US this morning with another long-standing Sinn Féin member, Rita O’Hare, to explain developments in the peace process.

He told reporters that the less Mr McDowell said about the peace process the better.

Mr McDowell said he welcomed his taciturnity and added that he looked forward to hearing it from the entire Provisional movement.

“That’s what the entire country is waiting for and deserves to hear and should not have been waiting this long,” he said.