The head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning General John de Chastelain announces that the IRA has put all of its weapons beyond use.
The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning announced that the IRA (Irish Republican Army) has disarmed.
This afternoon the members of the Commission, retired Canadian General John de Chastelain, Brigadier Tauno Nieminen from Finland and diplomat Andrew Sens from the United States, presented their findings to the world's media.
General de Chastelain who read the statement says the Commission is satisfied that the decommissioned weapons represent all of the IRA’s arsenal, and
The Commission has determined that the IRA has met its commitment to put all its arms beyond use in a manner called for by the legislation.
The independent witnesses, Catholic priest Fr Alec Reid and President of the Methodist Church in Ireland Rev Harold Good were also present, and they stated clearly that there is no doubt that the IRA’s weapons are now decommissioned, as
The experience of seeing this with our own eyes...provided us with the evidence so clear...that beyond any shadow of doubt the arms of the IRA have now been decommissioned.
The world's media saw the details of exactly how much and what was decommissioned. But the General who is not at liberty to divulge said his words required an element of trust. Later Fr Reid who later spoke to RTÉ News about the process itself emphasised again that the weapons are no longer in use,
You went to a place and you saw a whole range of weapons, explosives...all these things unquestionably are gone.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 26 September 2005. The reporter is Declan McBennett.
