IRA and decommissioning

[Philip L Ferguson <PLF13@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

George P:
>> Can anybody furnish a comprehensive answer as to the IRA will not
>surrender their
>> munitions.
>


Mac S:
>That's fairly simple (although I'm no expert). The RUC (renamed!) still has
>theirs, and giving up weapons now would be unconditional surrender.


Exactly right.

Unfortunately, I am not convinced that the IRA are determined to hold on to
their weaponry.  The pressure from Adans and co. will be to get them to
decommission.  The military leadership has gone so far down the track with
the political leadership that it is difficult to see how they can't go the
last mile.

I tend to think some face-saving mechanism will be found, which will still
mean a surrender of weapons.  They have already surrendered so much
politically, there actually seems little point in holding onto the guns
anyway.

However, there has always been a residual anti-imperialism in the Army.  So
maybe things could get interesting if this started to reassert itself.

Unfortunately, I am way too out of touch to know what is likely.

Philip Ferguson