Hain points way back to devolution

Northern Secretary Peter Hain today announced further steps in the “normalisation” of Ulster politics in the wake of the IRA’s decommissioning of arms.

In a Commons statement, Mr Hain said that if the Independent Monitoring Commission reports confirmed an end to IRA activity it was time to move forward with devolved powers.

The British government planned to appoint a Victims’ Commissioner, move further towards conventional policing and explore the scope for devolved responsibility for criminal justice and policing.

Mr Hain said ministers had also undertaken to legislate on the so-called “on-the-runs” – individuals connected with paramilitary crimes committed before the Belfast peace agreement.

“This is not an amnesty,” he insisted. “Nevertheless, the implementation of those proposals will be painful for many people. I fully understand this.

“But the government believes that it is a necessary part of the process of closing the door on violence forever.”

Mr Hain welcomed the “huge progress” made in the summer but coupled his welcome of the IRA’s move on arms with a warning to the loyalists after renewed street violence and a “murderous” paramilitary feud.

“It has taken a long time for the republican movement to acknowledge that violence does not pay. It is high time that the loyalist paramilitaries learned it too.”