INLA decommissioning is welcomed

The INLA emerged as a breakaway grouping from the Official IRA in late 1974. Whilst small in comparison to other republican terrorist groups, the organisation was regarded as particularly ruthless and were responsible for approximately 120 deaths during the troubles.

The political wing of the INLA, the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), announced last October that weapons would be put beyond use.

The Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG) in Londonderry welcomed the news that INLA weapons have been destroyed. The UPRG provide political analysis to the Ulster Defence Association who recently completed decommissioning.

UPRG Regional Secretary for North Antrim and Londonderry, David Malcolm, said: "We are sure we can speak for the widest spectrum of opinion in the Loyalist community when we congratulate those who have shown great leadership within the Socialist community and who have had the vision and taken great risks to create a new environment for the future where violence is no longer a viable option and where weapons are a thing of the past.

"It has been on this basis and this new dynamic thinking that ex-prisoners and ex-combatants along with community leaders from these communities that once killed each other, began a process of building trust through activities at a community level to challenge each other, to listen to each other's stories and to create a safe space where they could espouse their politics that never sought to dominate the other.

"This process has borne fruit from its labours and is a credit to those who bravely took the first steps to get where we are today. There is no doubt that all the people of Northern Ireland and indeed on this island will benefit from this historical act carried out by the INLA. It has not been easy but no one involved in the peace process thought it would be.

"This is not the end but the beginning of a new future based on equality, human rights and mutual respect.

"I would also say that grass roots socialist communities in the North West face the same social and economic problems as loyalist communities, we identify with the problems these communities face and again call on elected representatives to do all in their power to address the needs of marginalised communities and to get a fairer deal for the west of the Province."

It has also emerged that a Londonderry group was directly involved in the INLA decommissioning process. Conal McFeely, Development Executive of Creggan Enterprises said: "We can confirm that we were part of a Joint Facilitation Group - involving Creggan Enterprises, Derry, The Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Dialogue Advisory Group, Amsterdam - that assisted the Irish National Liberation Army in putting weapons under its control beyond use. To enable this process to be completed in accordance with international standards, we - the Joint Facilitation Group - transferred the weapons to the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning and witnessed the weapons being put beyond use. Due to the confidential nature of the process we cannot make any further comment.

"The key to any process of conflict resolution must recognise the needs of all groups and fully respects and values different political opinion given the diversity of community allegiances. All processes should be inclusive if any political route map is to bring about sustainable economic, social and political change. This is essential in underpinning community cohesion."

The announcement was made in Belfast on Monday by a spokesman for the IRSP and came just a day before the legislation enabling the international decommissioning (IICD) body to operate expired.