Disarmament must not be half-hearted

A DEFINITIVE statement by the IRA, promising to decommission its arsenal of deadly weapons is imminent, but whether the organisation is prepared to put an end to criminality once and for all is still unclear.

At long last, it seems, diehard elements of the main republican movement have been convinced that politics is a viable alternative to the gun.

Past masters of the drip-by-drip process of public relations, the deft hand of Sinn Féin can be seen all over the carefully stage-managed choreography of what promises to be an historic milestone on the political landscapes, North and South.