Ulster Unionist AGM

SloanerF1

Apologies if there is a thread covering this already, but I couldn't find it.

From BBC News:

The IRA must say the war is over if Northern Ireland's devolved government is to be restored, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble has said.

The former first minister said there had to be a verifiable means of confirming IRA decommissioning had taken place.

He warned Northern Ireland's paramilitaries the "moment of truth" had arrived for them to cease operating.

He said the Assembly would not return "unless republicans act", amid reports the IRA is to make a significant gesture to help restore the suspended power-sharing executive.

Mr Trimble's comments came during a speech at the party's annual general meeting in Belfast on Saturday.

He said: "Their (IRA's) act must start with proper open decommissioning and continue with saying the war is over and ensuring that it will not start again - the IRA does have to go away.

He added: "Without republicans changing, acknowledging that they got it so dreadfully wrong, making amends, indeed if not words, the future is bleak. The hour of reckoning for unionists is fast approaching/

"We have tried, tried and tried again to wean republicans from violence.

"If we fail again the world will know that republicans, not unionists have blocked the path to peace, blighted hopes for the future, frustrated the agreement.

"The onus is on them. They know what has to be done. The time for talk is drawing to an end."

I don't think anyone can argue with what he is saying, but David Trimble seems to be forgetting the amount of recent violence among Loyalist groups, some of whom have comparable links to political parties. Although much of the Loyalist paramilitary activitiy has centred around internal feuding, this has not always been the case. Some of the violence has been sectarian (in the cases of Danny McColgan and Gerard Lawlor) or misguidedly sectarian (in the case of Gavin Brett).

What is more, just because violence is non-sectarian does make it any less of a threat to the security of the state of Northern Ireland.

So, Mr Trimble, call for IRA de-commissioning by all means, but do not be fooled into thinking that it is the only stumbling block to devoultion in Northern Ireland.