Left Field and Beyond

The IRA has destroyed its arsenal. In the 200 years the Irish Republicans have existed, they have never gone to such lengths to find peace in Ireland. The man in charge of ensuring it is done was retired Canadian General John de Chastelain, and he claims that all weapons were now beyond use. This isn't quite good enough for Democratic Unionist Ian Paisley, who is demanding photographic evidence and is showing signs of refusing to sit around the table with Sinn Fein. The General stated that much of the ammunition was in belts or bags, suggesting they had been collected from individuals over time. Some loyal paramilitaries and splinter groups were no doubt still in action, but could be "cleaned up" by security forces.

And what an arsenal!

650 Kalashnikov assault rifles
40 Armalite assault rifles, smuggled from America, often stolen from US army stores
50 heavy and general purpose machine guns
60 Webley revolvers
2 Barret high-powered American sniper rifles
40 rocket launchers
6 flame throwers
1 SAM-7 surface-to-air missile
600 bomb detonators
3 tonnes of Semtex plastic explosive, the undetectable variety
An unknown number of mortars
Hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition

I have always wanted a united Ireland, and have been engaged in that discussion ever since I can remember with the Irish culture being so strong in our family. (Note to readers - it takes a considerable amount of alcohol to get a jig out of me these days). I used to think, too, that the IRA were right - that the guerilla tactics they used for the Cause were just and the only way against the might of the British Army. I'd read abou the atrocities in Ireland and Scotland and the independance movements there.

I don't know what actually happened - whether the organisation changed, or just my perception of them. But the IRA no longer have a cause. It exists in the form of bands of thugs who patrol areas, using violence and fear to control the people they were supposed to fight for.

Hopefully now we can see the end of the gun and the bomb in Irish politics, and hopefully Paisley and his cohorts will sit down, shut up and listen. Before the Good Friday agreement, some children had never known a cease fire, let alone peace, in their life time. Hopefully they will now see a united Ireland in that time.