The IRA AnnouncementI've avoided posting on this until now because my natural tendency is to be suspicious of the IRA. But I'm beginning to soften. I commented last night that the IRA was under tremendous pressure because of the London bombings. But it didn't hit me then that the pressure might not be as much from the law and political figures like Tony Blair as from their support on the other side. The absolute revulsion of the world at the death of 52 innocents (and four killers) on July 7 must have convinced many Republicans among the general population that indiscriminate violence had to be disavowed.
This report
stresses the positive.
THE IRA will destroy its arsenal within two months, after its historic announcement of an end to its 35-year campaign of violence.
In a move followed by choreographed welcomes in Belfast, London, Dublin and Washington, the IRA's "armed campaign" officially came to an end at 4pm on Thursday (1am yesterday AEST).
The IRA told its units to dump their weapons and instructed volunteers to pursue objectives through democratic and peaceful means and engage in "no other activities whatever". The IRA prepared a DVD with the statement read out by one of its "hard men" veterans, Seanna Walsh.
The IRA order, insisted on by the British and Irish governments, was taken by British Prime Minister Tony Blair as renouncing all criminal and paramilitary behaviour. The weapons' surrender will be crucial. This has usually been where the IRA suddenly get cold feet. But I'll let myself get cautiously optimistic. Things have improved economically since the Good Friday accords; in Ireland, both North and Republic of, people are scrambling to get rich rather than fighting over an ever-decreasing pie as was the case in the 1970s.
That's the difference, I think, between the US and many other countries (but not Ireland). Here we look at it as, "How can I get a nice big slice out of all this business that is going on?" But in most of Europe and among the Left in this country the question is "How can I get some of this other guy's wealth?"
Similar
thoughts here.
