The North's First Minister David Trimble has claimed devolution could end if the IRA fails to disarm by the end of this month. The Ulster Unionist leader, who faces a crucial meeting of his party's council on February 12 on decommissioning and devolution, predicted direct rule from Westminster would return if no progress was made by January 31.
In a BBC Radio Ulster interview, Mr Trimble signalled his party was looking for progress on IRA disarmament in the report being prepared by the international decommissioning body for the end of this month. The UUP leader would not rule out the possibility that decommissioning would happen at the end of the month and said he was still hopeful there would be a move by the paramilitaries. Mr Trimble maintained that all parties were aware during the Mitchell Review negotiations of what would happen if events did not go according to plan. However, the Upper Bann MP stressed that if the parties were forced into another review into the operation of the Good Friday Agreement by the Northern Secretary Peter Mandelson, people should not lose heart. "Society should not regard it as the end of the road or the end of the Agreement," he said. Meanwhile, Mitchel McLaughlin of Sinn Féin has accused unionists of constantly attempting to renegotiate the Belfast agreement. Speaking in Dublin, he called on both governments to make it clear, no such renegotiation of the agreement will take place
A survey today indicates that some 86% of the electorate believe that the IRA and other paramilitaries should decommission their weapons now. The Irish Times/MRBI poll suggests that there is massive support for decommissioning among supporters of all parties and in all regions of the State, social classes and age groups.
