Peace process is 'under threat' according to IRA

In a tersely worded statement, the IRA has warned that the peace process is "under threat" in their traditional New Year message.

The statement, which has been published in the republican magazine An Phoblacht, lays the blame for the current problems squarely at the door of the "British military establishment, its intelligence agencies and from the loyalist murder gangs".

However, despite its rancour the paramilitary organisation says that, eight years after its first ceasefire, it is "totally committed to the search for a just and lasting peace".

The central question of IRA disbandment – which Prime Minister Tony Blair referred to as "acts of completion" in a speech following the suspension of the Stormont executive – the organisation rejects as an "unacceptable and unrealistic ultimatum".

It added: "Pursuing an agenda dictated by those opposed to change obstructs the creation of the conditions necessary to build a lasting peace.

"The IRA leadership has outlined, on a number of occasions, how the full implementation by the two governments of their commitments could provide a political context with the potential to remove the causes of conflict.

"That remains our view. The primary responsibility for restoring confidence in this process lies with the British government. Honouring their obligations is how this can be done."

While the tone of statement is not unexpected, it will be a cause for concern for Tony Blair who has been holding talks with the pro-agreement parties in Downing Street this week aimed at kick-starting devolved government. If there is little progress on paramilitary decommissioning, Mr Blair's hand will be weakened as the latest round of negotiations gets under way. Both the SDLP and Sinn Fein are expected to meet with the Prime Minister later today.

UUP leader and former first minister David Trimble described the statement as the “work of people living in an unreal world”.

Mr Trimble said: “Gun-running from Florida, and maladroit adventurism in Colombia, Castlereagh and ‘Stormontgate’ were the work of the IRA.

“Their underlying problem is their unwillingness to change. Responsibility for this crisis rests squarely on their shoulders. It was their recklessness that precipitated all of this, and it is up to them to sort it out.

“We are not attempting to do anything that is ‘unacceptable and unreasonable’. We are simply asking the IRA to honour what was in the Belfast Agreement and endorsed by the people of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland."

(GMcG)