Taoiseach welcomes report on IRA arms dumps

The Taoiseach has welcomed the report of the international arms inspectors. Bertie Ahern said that the report gave a clear indication that IRA weapons in control dumps are beyond use. The inspectors, Cyril Ramaphosa and Martti Ahtisaari, said that the dumps had not been tampered with. The reported that the IRA had fully co-operated with them and that they were convinced that this co-operation would continue. It was their third inspection of IRA arms dumps.

Mr Ahern said that he now looked forward to further progress on the decommissioning issue. He said that he and the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, would continue to work towards that goal immediately after the British general election.

Earlier today, the inspectors reported that IRA arms dumps remained secure. General John de Chastelain, head of the International Decommissioning Commission, also reported that he had continued to engage with the IRA representative since their last reported meeting in March. Dr John Reid, Northern Secretary, and the Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams, welcomed the developments.

Mr Reid said: "My hope is that the contacts which resumed in March between the IRA and the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning will also soon enable General de Chastelain to report significant progress on the putting of IRA weapons fully and verifiably beyond use."

However, David Trimble, the First Minister in Northern Ireland, said that there was no sign of any progress being made in fulfilling the Republican movement's promise to put their weapons completely and verifiably beyond use.

Mr Ahtisaari and Mr Ramaphosa reported that they saw a substantial amount of military material including explosives and weapons. The inspectors said that they had planned to carry out the inspections during the first quarter of this year but had been unable to do so earlier because of the foot and mouth outbreak and the consequent restrictions on movement.

The arms were safely and adequately stored, according to the inspectors. They said that they were confident that the weapons could not be used without being detected by them. The arms dumps will be re-inspected regularly to ensure that the weapons remain secure.

Meanwhile, the Labour leader, Ruairí Quinn, welcomed the "positive" report. He said that while the slow rate of progress on decommissioning had been disappointing these positive reports would help to reassure public opinion.