Decommissioning the IRA.

Disarming the Provisional IRA.

While political harmony was never a likely or achievable pre-requisite of a long-lasting peace in Northern Ireland, arms decommissioning by the paramilitaries has always been considered essential.

Security sources believe the Irish Republican Army (IRA) alone has enough weaponry to equip a small country's army and sustain a campaign for at least a decade. The arsenal, about 1,700 weapons, 50 heavy and general-purpose machine guns, 40 rocket launchers, grenades, mortars, flame throwers, booby traps, ground-to-air missiles and an estimated two tons of Semtex, are concealed in deep bunkers, almost certainly in the Irish Republic, their whereabouts known to just a few.

The IRA's arsenal was amassed over several years, some of it smuggled in from America and continental Europe, but most of it in several shiploads from Libya in the mid-1980s.

Complete and verifiable disarmament.

In May 2000, the IRA, which had given its support to the Good Friday Agreement, said it would not give up any of its weapons but would allow an independent inspection.

In May 2000, the IRA, which had given its support to the Good Friday Agreement, said it would not give up any of its weapons but would allow an independent inspection.

In its statement, the IRA leadership pledged to initiate a process to "completely and verifiable" put its arms beyond use as required by the British and Irish governments. It also gave an undertaking to resume contact with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) and put in place a confidence-building measure to confirm that their weapons remain secure.

Although falling far short of what was demanded by unionists, it was a major step forward and a more significant gesture than the previous occasions when the IRA disarmed -- after the 1916 Easter Rising, when republicans surrendered their arms at gunpoint to the British, and after the 1922 civil war when Eamon de Valera ordered his forces to dump their arms (though this was not monitored).

The IRA's confidence-building measure came seven weeks later when Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland, and Cyril Ramaphosa, a former secretary-general of the African National Congress, revealed they had been allowed to inspect three IRA arms dumps.

In their report, they said: "We inspected a number of arms dumps. The arms dumps held a substantial amount of military material, including explosives and related equipment, as well as weapons and other material. We observed that the weapons and explosives were safely and adequately stored. We have ensured that the weapons and explosives cannot be used without our detection.

Significant step forwards.

"The process that led to the first inspection visit and the way in which it was carried out makes us believe that this is a genuine effort by the IRA to advance the peace process."

In its statement, the IRA said: "The leadership of the IRA has consistently sought to enhance the peace process. This initiative demonstrates once more our commitment to securing a just and lasting peace."

Prime Minister Tony Blair hailed the development as a "very substantial step," although, sensitive to unionist demands for actual disarmament, he said the inspection of dumps was "not decommissioning itself."

Irish Premier Bertie Ahern said: "I think that brings the decommissioning saga to, hopefully, a successful end." Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams said: "In 200 years there has not been an initiative like this."

It is believed that the arms dumps have been secured in the same way as bank deposit boxes, with Ramaphosa and Ahtisaari holding one of two keys to a dual-lock system, which ensures the arsenals cannot be opened unilaterally by the IRA.

The next step on decommissioning will be for the IRA to agree to allow the two arms inspectors to return to the three dumps. It is by no means inevitable that they will return because the inspectors can only function with the cooperation of the IRA.

William Hunt Associates is experienced in the design and execution of disarmament and destruction programs. (Oct 2001)

All material Copyright WHA © 2001.  Last updated: 9 October 2001