IRA move - Peace could be within our grasp
Having for years ‘talked the talk’ about decommissioning its weapons, Sinn Féin’s private army is finally set to ‘walk the walk’, and may wind up completely in five months, our Political Editor, Harry McGee, reveals.
Significantly, this dramatic news could create a new window of opportunity for the British and Irish Governments to break the logjam currently blocking restoration of the North’s power-sharing Assembly.
It would also be a welcome Christmas bonus for the North’s beleaguered citizens, desperately desiring peace and normality for themselves and their children.
Already, a marked reduction in IRA activities has been noted by the PSNI, the North’s police, though punishment beatings are still widespread among loyalists.
With Ian Paisley’s DUP firmly opposed to sharing power with Sinn Féin, or even speaking to them, while weapons are still out there, an IRA stand-down would be crucial.
Politically, the March deadline would give Sinn Féin a mighty electoral boost before the British elections in May. It would also provide a breathing space for beleaguered British Prime Minister Tony Blair as the Labour government faces a tough election over Britain’s role in Iraq.
Symbolically, the onset of St Patrick’s Day is a time when the international media looks to Ireland for stories and so the March disbandment deadline would be a publicity coup for the IRA’s finely-tuned PR machine.
The modern IRA was formed in the winter of 1969-70 when the North was torn by conflict. A split in Sinn Féin was engineered by Fianna Fáil with the aim of wresting ‘true’ republicanism from its left-wing socialist leadership.
When money was offered to enable the breakaway faction go it alone, the Provisional and Official wings of the IRA went their separate ways. Thus opened the bloodiest chapter of the Troubles as the Provos took on the British Army, the RUC and militant loyalists in a war that cost the lives of thousands of innocent civilians.
Ironically, when the organisation is wound up, some IRA men could yet end up joining PSNI. Furthermore, disbandment would see the highly active IRA intelligence unit being subsumed into the wider republican movement where it would gather political rather than military intelligence.
A chronic lack of trust between unionists and nationalists was central to the collapse of the recent Leeds Castle bid to break the Assembly stalemate. Tactically, the DUP entered a new phase, demanding that ministers be accountable to the Assembly for their executive decisions. Nationalists strongly resisted this move, seeing it as a ploy to change the fundamentals of the Good Friday agreement, giving unionists a veto on power-sharing.
As the search goes on for an elusive formula of words acceptable to all sides continues, the vexed proposal to grant immunity to IRA suspects on-the-run is likely to be added once a deal is secured.
Controversially, following an agreement, the Irish Government could also release the killers of Garda Detective Jerry McCabe by the back door.
If things go according to plan, Sinn Féin will look for an overall package just before the British elections. The climax will be a March stand-down of the IRA, a historic move that would be welcomed the length and breadth of Ireland.
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