These fascists don’t even know the true meaning of republicanism

SINN FÉIN and the IRA refused to allow photographs to be taken of the proposed arms decommissioning in December.

They said the others were trying to humiliate them. Ian Paisley and his party basically asserted that they could not trust Sinn Féin and the IRA to implement their promises. Paisley went over the top with his talk about sackcloth and ashes, but does anyone trust Sinn Féin’s word now?

The party has been seriously damaged over the Northern Bank raid. From early on, Sinn Féin leaders seemed to be hedging as they stressed that IRA leaders told them they were not involved in the raid. While Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness asked for proof of IRA involvement, their own denials lacked conviction. They were not so much saying that the IRA was not involved as that nobody could prove it was implicated.