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.

As proof of the profound nature of a policy shift that will be welcomed from one end of the country to the other, it says the PIRA is no longer engaged in such activities as training, recruiting, targeting, procurement, surveillance, or engineering.

Significantly, we no longer hear the well-oiled hypocrisy of the republican PR machine which has invariably adopted a nod-and-wink attitude to criminality and terrorism in the past. According to the IMC, the organisation now maintains a firm stand against the involvement of its members in terrorism.

The underlying message of this report could hardly be more important because it signifies that a return to terrorism in any form is no longer considered a viable option for the IRA.

While the authors will inevitably be accused of talking up the scenario on the eve of next week’s crucial meeting on the North’s future, the inescapable implication is that the IMC analysis has a clear capacity to lay the foundation of lasting peace and political stability in the North.

Foreshadowing the coming talks at St Andrews in Scotland, aimed at restoring devolved government in the North, it is not surprising that the Dublin and London Governments, along with most political parties, see this document as a clear sign that the North is finally moving towards ultimate agreement for a final settlement of a conflict which claimed thousands of lives.

Some indication of the seminal importance of the report can be gleaned from the fact that even the DUP has described it as significant. Yet, the party’s ageing leader Ian Paisley could not resist making the arrogant claim that the IRA were abandoning their terrorist structures because DUP pressure and its unequivocal stance are working.

Not long ago, the Paisley claim would have triggered a backlash. Thankfully, more mature republican policies now prevail. Yet, few can deny the cold logic of Dr Paisley’s characteristically blunt reminder that if Sinn Féin want to be treated on the same basis as everyone else, they should commit themselves to supporting the police, the courts and the rule of law. As he put it, there can be no toleration of anyone who was half in and half out of the democratic club.

From being the most sophisticated and best equipped of the North’s line-up of paramilitary groups, the IMC says the IRA is now firmly set on a political course, eschewing terrorism and other forms of crime.

Arguably, its landmark report promises to have a powerful influence on the outcome of impending negotiations between Dublin, London and the North’s political parties, as they set out once more to rebuild the North’s fragile democracy through sustainable partnership government.