Two Loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland have announced they have decommissioned their weapons and a third has said it will follow suit.
Both the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and its splinter group the Red Hand Commando (RHC) declared their weapons and explosives were “totally and irreversibly beyond use” today while the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), stated it is in the middle of handing its arms over. Shaun Woodward, secretary of state for Northern Ireland said it was an historic day for people in Northern Ireland.
The UVF said it had destroyed its entire arsenal, with a further major disarmament act from the RHC. The UDA released a statement in Belfast confirming it had decommissioned a portion of its illegal arsenal and had started a process that would lead to the destruction of all its arms.
The UVF leadership today said: “We have done so to further augment the establishment of accountable democratic governance in this region of the UK, to remove the pretext that loyalist weaponry is an obstacle to the development of our communities and to compound our legacy of integrity to the peace process.”
A UDA statement said: “The struggle has ended. Peace and democracy have been secured and the need for armed resistance has gone. Consequently we are putting our arsenal of weaponry permanently beyond use.”
“The dark days are now behind us and it is time to move on. There is no place for guns and violence in the new society we are building. It is time to work for a better future.”
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Whilst this fan fair by the national & international media circus over the loyalist parmailitary announcement is all well and good, it’s nothing to write home about!! The largest loyalist group, the UDA, is still in the act of discussion on disarming their weapons with the IICD. However, not during any of the loyalist paramilitary statements on their “momentus” decision was there an apology, acknowledge or ounce of remorse shown to the near 1,000 sectarian killings they perpetrated upon the Catholic people!! So I suppose thats all well and good then in the name of political progress…..
I posted this entry “tongue firmly planted in cheek”. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Hope springs eternal, Jack. If the Irish play their cards right, they could end up being the dominant country in the Empire.