Swords into Plowshares

29 July 2005



IRA Announces an End to Armed Struggle

The Irish Republican Army, a terrorist organization despite what they may say in South Boston, stated yesterday that its armed campaign to forcibly unite Protestant Ulster and Catholic Eire is at an end. All members were instructed to get rid of their weapons and pursue democratic means only. Actions speak louder than words, but these were the right words at the right time.

The history of Ireland’s northern counties and their political status is the history of dashed hopes for those on either side of the orange-green divide. This latest statement is about as unequivocal as can be, but arch-Unionist Reverend Ian Paisley (a man who makes old George Wallace seem a tolerant) said that the IRA had made important sounding statements before and then “reverted to type.” One hates to agree with such a man over anything beyond what color the sun is, but he was right when he said, “We will judge the IRA's bona fides over the next months and years based on its behavior and activity.”

Fortunately, the IRA statement lays out some rather definite measures by which its behavior in the months and years ahead can be judged. For example, witnesses from both the Catholic and Protestant churches have been invited to see firsthand the decommissioning of IRA weapons. Photos may be or may not be taken, but witnesses will testify as to whether the weapons are “put beyond use” or not. And this is the key. It is particularly difficult to engage in terrorism and armed struggle if one hasn’t got a weapon.

Of course, what would really help now is a similar statement from the other side of the fence. The Irish and British governments have made the right noises, but oddly they are the seconds in this duel and not the principals. The Ulster Volunteer Force and the other orange terrorists (both sides are criminal) need to acknowledge the IRA move and respond in kind – ideally, with similar witnesses to their own weapon decommissioning.

After a £26.5m bank robbery blamed on the IRA in December and the brutal murder of Robert McCartney in January (and the shaming the IRA took by the women he left behind), the IRA was rapidly losing whatever credibility it had as a group of freedom-fighters; it was starting to look like the Mafia. This week’s move keeps some of the sparkle on the memory of the struggle, which has kept the money flowing from the gullible for years. With luck, that money will be spent on ballots and not bullets. The world will know in about a decade.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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