Just read this on reuters.com:
I think that in the middle of terrible events of terrorism, this is one of the nicest news one could get!
IRA says ceasing all armed activity in N.Ireland
Thu Jul 28, 2005 9:57 AM ET
By Jodie Ginsberg
DUBLIN (Reuters) - The Irish Republican Army announced an end to its armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland on Thursday, in a move British leader Tony Blair said could mark the day "politics replaces terror" there.
But the province's main Protestant party poured cold water on the keenly awaited statement by the Catholic guerrilla group, saying it failed to forswear acts of crime or to inspire confidence that guns had been set aside for ever.
The IRA said in a statement it would cease all armed activity and pursue its aims through politics -- a crucial move to kick-start talks on a lasting political settlement in the violence-torn province. It said its units must "dump arms."
But it made no explicit reference to ending criminal activity -- a major stumbling block to the peace process -- nor did it promise to disband, a move the group that has fought for decades for a united Ireland sees as akin to surrender.
The statement read in part:
"The leadership of Oglaigh na hEireann (IRA) has formally ordered an end to the armed campaign.
"This will take effect from 4 p.m. this afternoon. All IRA units have been ordered to dump arms. All volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programs through exclusively peaceful means."
The IRA said it would engage with an independent arms decommissioning body to verify it had put its massive arsenal of guns and explosives beyond use, but gave no date for completion.
"We have invited two independent witnesses, from the Protestant and Catholic churches, to testify to this," it added.
In London, Prime Minister Blair welcomed the statement as "a step of unparalleled magnitude," adding: "I welcome its clarity, I welcome the recognition that the only route to political change lies in exclusively peaceful and democratic means."
"This may be the day which finally after all these false dawns and dashed hopes peace replaced war, politics replaces terror on the island of Ireland," he told reporters. Continued ...
DUP SCEPTICAL
But Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which supports continued union with Britain, was far less enthusiastic.
"Even on the face of the statement, they have failed to explicitly declare an end to their multi-million-pound criminal activity and have failed to provide the level of transparency that would be necessary to truly build confidence that the guns had gone in their entirety," a statement said.
Talks on reviving an assembly, set up under the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement for Catholics and Protestants to run the province's affairs together, broke down in December after the DUP demanded photos of arms being destroyed. The IRA refused such "humiliation."
The group has allowed international monitors to witness three private acts of decommissioning but would not permit them to reveal any details about the weapons.
The IRA had been expected to outline plans for its future since April, when its political ally Sinn Fein called for the guerrillas to end armed struggle.
A high-profile robbery and murder blamed on the IRA fanned calls for it to disband and sparked harsh censure of Sinn Fein from traditional supporters, notably in the United States.
Earlier on Thursday, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams promised the statement would "challenge" all parties to the Northern Ireland conflict.
The DUP refuses to talk directly to Sinn Fein, still less sit in government with it, while it maintains links to the paramilitary organization.
The IRA arsenal, used to wage a 30-year campaign against British rule until a 1997 cease-fire, has long been the main obstacle to a political deal. Some 3,600 people died during Northern Ireland's "Troubles," half of them killed by the IRA.
Sinn Fein was to hold press conferences in Dublin and Washington at 1500 GMT and briefings in London and Brussels at the same time.
I think that in the middle of terrible events of terrorism, this is one of the nicest news one could get!
IRA says ceasing all armed activity in N.Ireland
Thu Jul 28, 2005 9:57 AM ET
By Jodie Ginsberg
DUBLIN (Reuters) - The Irish Republican Army announced an end to its armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland on Thursday, in a move British leader Tony Blair said could mark the day "politics replaces terror" there.
But the province's main Protestant party poured cold water on the keenly awaited statement by the Catholic guerrilla group, saying it failed to forswear acts of crime or to inspire confidence that guns had been set aside for ever.
The IRA said in a statement it would cease all armed activity and pursue its aims through politics -- a crucial move to kick-start talks on a lasting political settlement in the violence-torn province. It said its units must "dump arms."
But it made no explicit reference to ending criminal activity -- a major stumbling block to the peace process -- nor did it promise to disband, a move the group that has fought for decades for a united Ireland sees as akin to surrender.
The statement read in part:
"The leadership of Oglaigh na hEireann (IRA) has formally ordered an end to the armed campaign.
"This will take effect from 4 p.m. this afternoon. All IRA units have been ordered to dump arms. All volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programs through exclusively peaceful means."
The IRA said it would engage with an independent arms decommissioning body to verify it had put its massive arsenal of guns and explosives beyond use, but gave no date for completion.
"We have invited two independent witnesses, from the Protestant and Catholic churches, to testify to this," it added.
In London, Prime Minister Blair welcomed the statement as "a step of unparalleled magnitude," adding: "I welcome its clarity, I welcome the recognition that the only route to political change lies in exclusively peaceful and democratic means."
"This may be the day which finally after all these false dawns and dashed hopes peace replaced war, politics replaces terror on the island of Ireland," he told reporters. Continued ...
DUP SCEPTICAL
But Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which supports continued union with Britain, was far less enthusiastic.
"Even on the face of the statement, they have failed to explicitly declare an end to their multi-million-pound criminal activity and have failed to provide the level of transparency that would be necessary to truly build confidence that the guns had gone in their entirety," a statement said.
Talks on reviving an assembly, set up under the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement for Catholics and Protestants to run the province's affairs together, broke down in December after the DUP demanded photos of arms being destroyed. The IRA refused such "humiliation."
The group has allowed international monitors to witness three private acts of decommissioning but would not permit them to reveal any details about the weapons.
The IRA had been expected to outline plans for its future since April, when its political ally Sinn Fein called for the guerrillas to end armed struggle.
A high-profile robbery and murder blamed on the IRA fanned calls for it to disband and sparked harsh censure of Sinn Fein from traditional supporters, notably in the United States.
Earlier on Thursday, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams promised the statement would "challenge" all parties to the Northern Ireland conflict.
The DUP refuses to talk directly to Sinn Fein, still less sit in government with it, while it maintains links to the paramilitary organization.
The IRA arsenal, used to wage a 30-year campaign against British rule until a 1997 cease-fire, has long been the main obstacle to a political deal. Some 3,600 people died during Northern Ireland's "Troubles," half of them killed by the IRA.
Sinn Fein was to hold press conferences in Dublin and Washington at 1500 GMT and briefings in London and Brussels at the same time.
. 
Ian Paisley thinksline dancing is evil
...and he is the leader of the biggest party here
indeed.
