Paisley sceptical over IRA move
Ian Paisley is set to quiz the chief of the decommissioning body on the age of the decommissioned IRA arms.
The leader of the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) will meet General John de Chastelain in order to discuss the validity of the independent body’s claim that all of the IRA’s weapons stockpile has been put beyond use.
The DUP is yet to accept the findings of the International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD), which were verified by a Methodist minister and a Catholic priest.
The unionist party yesterday expressed concern over the lack of photographic evidence of the process.
“Photographic evidence is what we asked for. We asked for an inventory of the weapons to be published and we asked for photographic evidence to be made available so that people can see for themselves clearly what was happening,” DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson told PM last night.
He continued: “If that had occurred we may have seen a greater impact in terms of building public confidence.”
In response to unionist distrust of the IICD’s claim, Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain told Newsnight: “It’s natural that unionists feel suspicion and distrust and scepticism about anything that the IRA does.
“After all, the unionist community suffered from years and years of terror by the IRA and there are a tremendous number of victims as a result.”
Mr Hain nevertheless described the extent of the IRA’s arms dumping as a “historic move” that will “open the door to further progress”.
And he encouraged sceptics to wait for the findings of the International Monitoring Commission, published in January, which will determine to what extent the IRA have kept their promises about arms decommissioning and cessation of criminal activities.
“If [the IMC] gives a clean bill of health to the ending and closing down of IRA paramilitary and criminal activity, it will, I think, be very significant and ought then to open the door to proper negotiations to take us forward on a road that will end in self-government and power-sharing,” Mr Hain said.
