Last Night, the IRA released a statement regarding the decommissioning of weapons. Full text can be found here.
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2001/0920/breaking21.htm
I started this in the pit, as I feel it will end up here anyway.
I believe this is a step forward. The announcement was lacking in the usual retoric of the IRA. I think it is a substaintial step forward.
Any comments on the statement?
What-are they saying they’re going to stop the violence?’
I think the pressure is telling on all extremists at the moment. The fact that some of their members were found to be apparently ‘doing business’ in Columbia and also (I believe) one of the Balkan countries adds the ‘International’ dimension that isn’t too popular right now.
This means not a lot but gets their nuts out of the vice for the moment:
“* However, as an earnest (sic) of our willingness to resolve the issue of arms, the IRA leadership wish to confirm that our representative will intensify the engagement with the IICD*”
One assumes normal programming will be resumed in a few weeks unless the US really is going after all their internal extremist networks – NORAID might be not what it was but it doesn’t mean that’s all there is coming into the coffers through legitimate business fronts, etc.
I wonder if Tony Blair might mention one or two things to Bush a little way down the road.
Chief Scott, I guess you’d better cancel the carpet bombing of Belfast.
Not to pick nits, but:
earnest - something of value given by a buyer to a seller to bind a bargain
Spelling and useage were correct.
I think the ‘(sic)’ in my selected quote must have been a reference to the missing following word in the IRA statement.
Yes, I saw it and apologize for the implication that it was you and not The Irish Times that couldn’t spell. 
I thought it was strange that they spoke about the columbian situation in such an outright manner. I don’t know what to make of it…
It’s Colombia, folks. Colombia.
As to the statement, sigh we’ve been down this road so many times. The unionists aren’t buying it, and you can’t really blame them. I’d like to see progress on decommissioning if only to put pressure on the loyalist paramilitaries to do the same, but as I’ve said before, I don’t really think it’ll make that much difference one way or the other.