IRA Cracks Open the Door

For years the citizens of Northern Ireland have awaited a signal of Irish Republican Army willingness to discuss disarmament. Last weekend that signal came. The IRA not only offered to open its secret weapon caches to regular inspections but to meet the demands of peace negotiators to have its weapons “completely and verifiably” put out of commission.

The IRA statement, along with a plan announced last weekend by the British and Irish governments, should revive a peace process that has been declared dead many times. With confidence restored, all quarters should deliver a firm commitment to end the communal violence that has racked the island for centuries. The developments gave both republicans and unionists the commitment to disarmament and peace that they had demanded.

The plan calls for restoring by May 22 the power-sharing government that was suspended in February. It also contemplates completing a process, begun in September 1998, of setting free over time the remaining imprisoned paramilitary group members, as long as the cease-fire holds.

Under the deal, November would bring a reduction of British troops in Northern Ireland and installation of a new police force with a different name and with a better-balanced membership of Catholic and Protestant officers. Both governments also agreed to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into their national laws.

The days ahead won’t be easy for anyone, but they will be especially difficult for David Trimble, the leader of the largest unionist party in Ulster. Trimble must convince his party to reenter government in Northern Ireland in the absence of an immediate IRA disarmament.

The surprising IRA commitment demands equally committed actions on the unionist side. The time has never been better for all parties to take the measures necessary to build a united government in Northern Ireland.