no surprises

[waider]

So, no surprise, the IICD announced today that all of the IRA's arms have been put beyond use (by which they mean, I believe, they're encased in rather a lot of concrete).

Further lack of surprise in the various parties praising this move; the UK Primer Minister, the Irish Taoiseach, the Irish President, and various other talking heads.

And of course least surprise of all at Ian "Ulster says No" Paisley:

Democratic Unionist leader Ian Paisley said there had been no transparent verification of IRA decommissioning in the announcement.

He said the church witnesses had been agreed by the IRA and as such could not be considered "independent".

Without a photographic proof, an inventory and details on how the weapons were destroyed questions remained, said Mr Paisley.

"This afternoon the people of Northern Ireland watched a programme which illustrates more than ever the duplicity and dishonesty of the two governments and the IRA."

His fellow party members, being a somewhat less intransigent lot, made noises that amounted to "yes, but what about the criminal activities?" (which also isn't particularly surprising)

Dear Ian, WTF? You do not approve of the witnesses chosen. This suggests you'd rather some other witnesses. In which case, they'd have been agreed by you, and "as such could not be considered independent". Furthermore, the IICD said that the inventory they made of the weapons is consistent with the security forces' estimates of IRA stockpiles. Since it's implicit in your attitude that you don't trust the IICD, their witnesses, or the IRA, in what way would a photograph, a list of weapons, or details of their destruction have changed your eventual statement, and given that, why did you even bother making concilliatory noises in the past few months? In fact, what the hell are you still doing in Northern Ireland politics, when even your own party members are moving forward without you?

You jerk.

Comments

[eejitalmuppet.livejournal.com]

I listened to bits of that while driving south from Scotland today (was somewhere between Stirling and Glasgow when the IICD press conference started), and the responses were utterly predictable. As you say, if there were photographs, he'd probably question their veracity (to be blunt, photos are so easy to doctor that I'd almost be more suspicious if they had produced pics). However, one of the witnesses is a friggin' Methodist Minister, a guy who is allegedly on the same side as Ian Paisley (and the identity of the witnesses was agreed by all parties, not just the IRA). His statement was about as blunt and categorical as it could be.

I'm reminded of a fake headline from Not the Nine O'Clock News, from about 1981 or 1982 (at a time when they were changing constituency boundaries): "Extra five seats in the House of Commons, so nobody has to sit next to Ian Paisley." The more things change...


Being serious for a moment, that still leaves a lot of paramilitary organisations, on both sides, who haven't unloaded any weapons (strange that IP hasn't said much about the loyalists shooting at police a couple of weeks ago). And, if some of the dafter loyalists start playing games in Catholic areas, it isn't difficult to envisage the IRA going out and getting some fresh materiel. Still, it's a significant step in the process: now we just need to cross our fingers for a while (again).

[waider.livejournal.com]

The Unionist politicians do actually have a modicum of high ground here; noone has ever really believed that Sinn Féin and the IRA were wholly separate organisations. Barring a few of the minor players on the Unionist side, there are no strongly evident ties between political Unionists and paramilitary Unionists. In fact, there's more evidence of collusion between the RUC and Unionist paramilitaries than of any connection involving the DUP, the UUP, etc.

[eejitalmuppet.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah, except that, in the riots the other week, there was footage of Orange Order members removing their "uniforms" and picking up petrol bombs from the miraculously convenient collection which materialised from thin air. I realise that the OO isn't a political party, but it boasts a lot of prominent DUP (and even UUP) members, and has enormous political clout in the Unionist areas. Not that this miraculously separates the IRA from Sinn Féin.

I found it interesting a few years ago, when the DUP (in the shape of Ian Paisley) were making a speech condemining the Good Friday Agreement, or one of its early successors, and many of the hecklers were representatives of the loyalist paramilitary groups. There seemed to be a feeling among loyalists that I. P. deliberately incites people to go out and cause trouble, then publicly disowns them in order to keep his own hands clean.

[waidesworld.livejournal.com]

I agree, where the fuck was Paisley for the last few weeks when all the loyalists were wrecking a city. Was he waiting for a nationalist reaction so he could say, "See where did those papists get those stones to throw at my people?"