Blair hails IRA's arms decision

2005-07-28 18:04

London - British Prime Minister Tony Blair hailed the Irish Republican Army's announcement to end its armed campaign as a step of "unparalleled magnitude" and said the disposal of IRA weapons must take place as soon as possible.

Blair said: "This may be the day when finally, after all the false dawns and dashed hopes, peace replaced war, politics replaces terror on the island of Ireland.

"I welcome the statement of the IRA that ends its campaign, I welcome its clarity, I welcome the recognition that the only route to political change lies in exclusively peaceful and democratic means.

"This is a step of unparalleled magnitude in the recent history of Northern Ireland."

Dramatic declaration

The IRA announced on Thursday that it will abandon its armed campaign and resume disarmament in a dramatic declaration designed to revive Northern Ireland's peace process.

The IRA said all of its clandestine units had been ordered to dump their weapons and cease all activities, effective at 16:00 on Thursday, but it would not formally disband.

Blair said: "Decommissioning must be completed as the statement says as soon as possible."

He said that Northern Ireland's Protestant community, in particular, together with the rest of the United Kingdom and Ireland, "will want to see this clear statement of principal kept to in practice".

Statement 'is what we've striven for'

He said: "The statement is of a different order than anything before. It is what we have striven for and worked for throughout the eight years since the Good Friday agreement."

Blair said the statement created the conditions in which the joint Catholic-Protestant administration could be revived.

He said: "It creates the circumstances in which the institutions can be revived.

If the circumstances were "permanent and verified ... then proper devolved democratic government should be restored to Northern Ireland".

- AP