The IRA calls a ceasefire but only for three days over Christmas.
The IRA have announced that they will not make a declaration about a full-scale ceasefire before Christmas and will maintain a three day lull in hostilities. There had been calls for an extension to the traditional IRA ceasefire while they considered the Downing Street Declaration.
Police in Britain remain on high alert as small hoax devices on railway services continue to disrupt the travelling public, and the IRA statement only made reference to Northern Ireland.
West Belfast SDLP (Social Democratic and Labour Party) MP Dr Joe Hendron condemned the statement.
There is really no excuse at all for the leadership of the republican movement not to be declaring an absolute and total cessation of violence.
Since the ceasefire last year, the IRA have killed 30 people in Northern Ireland.
Four hundred prisoners across Northern Ireland will be on temporary release for Christmas from today. Many IRA inmates are expected to contribute to the debate within Sinn Féin on the joint statement.
Martin McGuinness was quoted today as saying that the Downing Street declaration was not enough to end the violence, and
Sinn Féin could not use its influence at this time to end the IRA campaign.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 23 December 1993. The reporter is David Davin Power.
