IRA MUST DECLARE IT'S OVER
IRA must declare it's over: Empey
By Martina Purdy
SENIOR Ulster Unionist Reg Empey clashed with Martin McGuinness today over Sinn Fein's call for the two parties to meet following the Omagh bomb.
Mr Empey, an East Belfast Assembly member, said Mr McGuinness should focus his attention on ensuring the IRA declare the "armed struggle is completely concluded."
Mr Empey said the IRA should also begin co-operating with the decommissioning body "with a view to handing over material."
"It is the step that people want to hear and to see take place." said Mr Empey. "Other groups are now saying that their struggles are complete, so must the Provisional movement."
Mr McGuinness insisted it was time for Ulster Unionists to talk directly to Sinn Fein as this was a "critical point" in history.
"We understand the difficulties faced by Mr Trimble and his colleagues. They must understand our difficulties also.
"How can there be trust or confidence or hope for the future if there is still a refusal on the part of unionists to talk to Sinn Fein?"
Mr McGuinness. who attended a weekend service in honour of the Omagh bomb victims, said he was struck by the people's "quiet determination and nobility and their insistence that political leaders build on the Belfast Agreement."
He said this should be a "beacon of light" for everyone in the months ahead.
The Sinn Fein MP called also for the speedy implementation of the Agreement, cross-border structures and the release of prisoners.
However. Ulster Unionist MP Jeffrey Donaldson warned it would be dangerous to release prisoners in light of "evidence" that some ex-inmates were involved in the Omagh bomb.
DUP justice spokesman Ian Paisley jr also called for a halt to prisoner releases and accused the Sentence Review Commission of "trampling" over the bereaved and dead of Omagh.
By Martina Purdy
SENIOR Ulster Unionist Reg Empey clashed with Martin McGuinness today over Sinn Fein's call for the two parties to meet following the Omagh bomb.
Mr Empey, an East Belfast Assembly member, said Mr McGuinness should focus his attention on ensuring the IRA declare the "armed struggle is completely concluded."
Mr Empey said the IRA should also begin co-operating with the decommissioning body "with a view to handing over material."
"It is the step that people want to hear and to see take place." said Mr Empey. "Other groups are now saying that their struggles are complete, so must the Provisional movement."
Mr McGuinness insisted it was time for Ulster Unionists to talk directly to Sinn Fein as this was a "critical point" in history.
"We understand the difficulties faced by Mr Trimble and his colleagues. They must understand our difficulties also.
"How can there be trust or confidence or hope for the future if there is still a refusal on the part of unionists to talk to Sinn Fein?"
Mr McGuinness. who attended a weekend service in honour of the Omagh bomb victims, said he was struck by the people's "quiet determination and nobility and their insistence that political leaders build on the Belfast Agreement."
He said this should be a "beacon of light" for everyone in the months ahead.
The Sinn Fein MP called also for the speedy implementation of the Agreement, cross-border structures and the release of prisoners.
However. Ulster Unionist MP Jeffrey Donaldson warned it would be dangerous to release prisoners in light of "evidence" that some ex-inmates were involved in the Omagh bomb.
DUP justice spokesman Ian Paisley jr also called for a halt to prisoner releases and accused the Sentence Review Commission of "trampling" over the bereaved and dead of Omagh.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0232
Published Date: 24-Aug-98
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