The Northern Secretary, Mo Mowlam, has said that she will make a decision in the next few days about the state of the IRA ceasefire. Dr. Mowlam has met British Army and RUC chiefs at Stormont to review security in the north. Speaking to reporters in Belfast this morning, the Northern Secretary said people commented that the dogs in the street knew what was going on. However, she said that she had to “listen to her advisors, read the evidence and make an evaluation in the round”. She added that she would not shirk from that, but would not be pushed in interviews to reach conclusions without full consultations.
An estimated four million pounds' worth of damage was caused to commercial property in Derry during the weekend rioting. Trouble involving nationalist youths broke out following an Appentice Boys' march, which had passed off peacefully. In South Belfast, Nationalist residents, who were protesting on the Lower Ormeau Road, had been removed by the RUC. The Northern Secretary said that the level of violence was unacceptable, but that she felt it was less serious than two years ago.
This afternoon, she has been considering the security situation with RUC and British Army chiefs. Following the killing last month of Belfast man Charles Bennett, unionist politicians have called on her to state whether she believes the IRA ceasefire is still holding. Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness insisted the IRA ceasefire was intact. Speaking in West Belfast, the Mid Ulster MP said that when the IRA called their ceasefire they said they were calling a complete cessation of military operations in order to enhance the peace process. However, he claimed that the peace process and the Good Friday agreement were in dire straits.
The SDLP leader John Hume, who described those responsible for the Derry violence as enemies of the people, said that the overwhelming majority wanted to see progress. The Ulster Unionist deputy leader John Taylor said that, technically, it could be argued the IRA ceasefire was still in place. However, he said that what they needed to get from the IRA, and what Mo Mowlam should be pushing for, was a total ceasefire, so that there was no grey area.
Five men and a juvenile appeared before Derry Magistrates Court today charged with riotous behaviour. The charges related to the disturbances in the city on Saturday evening and early yesterday morning. Ten men and a juvenile have already been remanded in custody. The disturbances in Derry began on Saturday morning and continued well into the early hours of Sunday. Several business premises in the city centre were destroyed by rioters, and around 130 petrol bombs were thrown in the fracas, which was centred around the Waterloo Place area of the city.
