IMC report - Lasting peace and stability within reach

NOBODY would have predicted a few short years ago that the IRA, among the world’s deadliest terrorist organisations, would go out of business.

But that tantalising prospect is finally looming, judging by the positive tone of yesterday’s report of the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) on paramilitary activity in the North.

Not even the most bigoted loyalist could deny that the Provisionals have undergone a remarkable transformation during the past three years. Leaving aside the activities of a number of IRA members, for whom criminality in the name republicanism has become a way of life, the IMC is convinced that the overall organisation is now fully committed to following a political path, with all that implies.