The Guardian - After 35 years a quiet voice ends the IRA's war

After 35 years of bombs and blood
a quiet voice ends the IRA's war

Angelique Chrisafis, Ireland correspondent
Friday July 29, 2005
The Guardian

The IRA yesterday declared that its war against Britain was over. Even in the long debased hyperbole of historic moments in the Northern Ireland peace process, this was a monumental announcement.

Its statement, unprecedented in its clarity, was delivered on a DVD by a soft-spoken IRA volunteer called Seana Walsh, who at 50 is typical of the now middle-aged rank and file of the organisation. He had spent 21 years in prison and was one of the IRA "blanket men" during the hunger strike and dirty protests in the Maze prison in the 1970s and 1980s.

Standing in front of an Irish tricolour, he announced that from 4pm a "formal end to the armed campaign" had been ordered. All IRA units were ordered to "dump arms". The IRA vowed to complete its long-running decommissioning process as quickly as possible by "verifiably its arms beyond use".

The retired Canadian general John de Chastelain will oversee the final acts of decommissioning, which could be completed within a month.

Although the statement did not address the thorny issue of criminality - which has seen the IRA blamed for December's £26.5m Northern Bank robbery and the murder of the Catholic father Robert McCartney - it makes it clear that "volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever".

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