Belfast, Northern Ireland – International weapons inspectors have supervised the full disarmament of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, a long-sought goal of Northern Ireland’s peace process, an aide to the process’ monitor said Sunday.
The IRA permitted two independent witnesses – a Methodist minister and a Roman Catholic priest close to Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams – to view the secret disarmament work conducted by officials from Canada, Finland and the United States, the aide to retired Canadian Gen. John de Chastelain said on condition of anonymity.
De Chastelain in recent weeks has been in secret locations overseeing the weapons destruction.
The aide said an Independent International Commission on Decommissioning news conference today would detail the scrapping of many tons of IRA weaponry this month at a confidential location in the Republic of Ireland.
Both witnesses – the Rev. Harold Good, a former president of the Methodist Church in Ireland, and the Rev. Alex Reid, a Catholic priest – also will state what they saw.
Statements from the British and Irish governments, Adams and the IRA’s command were expected within 24 hours.
“I am confident that tomorrow will bring the final chapter on the issue of IRA arms,” said Martin McGuinness, the deputy leader of the IRA-linked Sinn Fein who plans to travel Tuesday to Washington to seek U.S. political support for the IRA’s actions.
The breakthrough should smash the biggest stumbling block in Northern Ireland’s peace process since Britain opened negotiations with Sinn Fein in December 1994.
Unfortunately, most politicians and analysts agree, the IRA move is coming years too late to kick-start the revival of a Roman Catholic-Protestant administration, the central dream of Northern Ireland’s 1998 peace accord. That complex, landmark agreement required the IRA to disarm by May 2000.
