IRA Move Gives Peace A Chance

Following an editorial from the Ulster Herald which came out just prior to the IRA's historic announcment today. (See the full IRA Announcment several articles below)

AS loyalist hoodlums lined Belfast streets to intimidate their rivals in full view of the police this week, the pasty, watery condemnations from mainstream unionism were a glaring contrast to the invective being hurled at republicans. Even as the IRA prepares to deliver what should be a definitive commitment to peace, the truth is that many unionist leaders maintain an ambivalence about loyalist paramilitary violence - even at its most horrific. They consider it as a ‘response‘ to IRA violence by a reserve force of the state.

So as we await news from the IRA that its violence has ended for all time, there is no such deadline for ending loyalist violence. For too long, the sole focus has been on silent IRA arms while UVF, UDA and LVF weapons blazed away.

It should go without saying that there has always been more than one side to the conflict. Most nationalists believe that fact has been ignored.

So more than ten years after the ceasefire announcements, huge segments of loyalism imagine that they function as a sort of peace-time Mafia. Their vicious, cruel, and psychotic deeds have, perversely, been glorified in a few Sunday tabloids. Many recognised leaders - past and present - have been elevated to the status of community heroes. Vicious hoodlums, who have publicly flaunted their immunity from arrest, would have been seen as callous murders in any normal society.

As of this weekend, local and international opprobrium should be redirected where it belongs. Likewise, British agencies which have conducted black operations throughout the Troubles, even to the present day, must also go away. At a time when conflict seems to be gripping more and more of the world, Ireland has long since earned its right to peace.

Meanwhile, the momentous IRA move anticipated by the Irish, US and British governments should be warmly welcomed by all those who cherish peace and hope. Even if early indications that no move will satisfy the DUP are borne out, it should not halt the momentum.

Following the recent attacks in London, Britain more than ever wants peace in Northern Ireland. True, it cannot force the DUP into an executive with Sinn Féin, but it can fast-track and implement all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement.

The overwhelming majority of people in Ireland want enduring peace and fellowship. Now that all the smoke is being blown away and the mirrors directed to the remaining threats and sources of violence, this is the time to deliver it in full.