BREAKAWAY IRA LEADERS AGREE ON CEASEFIRE
Breakaway IRA leaders agree on ceasefire
By TOM BRADY, Security Editor
THE terror organisation, behind the Omagh bombing atrocity last night decided to declare a permanent ceasefire.
The decision is understood to have been taken at a meeting of the seven-person army council of the group that calls itself the Real IRA.
The meeting was held in a house in north Louth last night following days of direct and indirect contacts with intermediaries acting for the Irish and British Governments.
The talks also followed two weeks of discussions among leading members of the group after earlier talks in Clare proved to be indecisive.
Last night's crucial meeting was attended by the gang's acting chief of staff, the former quartermaster of the Provisional IRA, the former IRA head of engineering from Inchicore, Dublin, the quartermaster's partner from north Louth, and leading activists from Cork city, Limerick city, Fermoy and North Co Dublin.
After a lengthy debate it is believed the group decided their organisation had no military future and agreed to call a permanent cessation of violence.
The move followed intense pressure from the two governments and visits to the homes of leaders last week by leading Provisional IRA figures who warned them to disband within a fortnight.
Direct contacts with political leaders were understood to have been made through Belfast priest Father Alex Reid while the Government's top Northern advisor Martin Mansergh was kept informed of developments indirectly.
Senior security forces are not convinced that the former quartermaster and his allies will remain on the sidelines but accept that the Real IRA as a terror organisation has been effectively disbanded from today.
Apart from the political pressure, the Real IRA also suffered a massive public backlash which ensured they could no longer rely on peripheral sympathisers to provide safe houses and support.
However, the declaration will not impinge on the RUC and Garda probe into the Omagh bombing and the crackdown on those responsible for the blast which killed 29 people.
Garda and RUC anti-terrorist chiefs are targeting at least 25 suspects as part of a crackdown on the key players in the splinter group.
A week before the Clare meeting the group had issued a statement announcing a "suspension of hostilities" and said it was starting consultations to decide its future. Constant Garda surveillance meant they were wary of calling a meeting of the leadership but last night they felt confident enough to go ahead.
The decision means that the only republican splinter group opposed to the peace process not to have declared a ceasefire is the Continuity IRA and it is believed by security sources to be almost defunct as its main activists along the Border had defected to the Real IRA.
Stormont First Minister David Trimble and Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams are to have bilateral talks in Belfast this week as part of negotiations designed to ease the new Assembly into operational mode. Thursday's planned talks follow yesterday's first direct face-to-face encounter involving the two opposing politicians.
By TOM BRADY, Security Editor
THE terror organisation, behind the Omagh bombing atrocity last night decided to declare a permanent ceasefire.
The decision is understood to have been taken at a meeting of the seven-person army council of the group that calls itself the Real IRA.
The meeting was held in a house in north Louth last night following days of direct and indirect contacts with intermediaries acting for the Irish and British Governments.
The talks also followed two weeks of discussions among leading members of the group after earlier talks in Clare proved to be indecisive.
Last night's crucial meeting was attended by the gang's acting chief of staff, the former quartermaster of the Provisional IRA, the former IRA head of engineering from Inchicore, Dublin, the quartermaster's partner from north Louth, and leading activists from Cork city, Limerick city, Fermoy and North Co Dublin.
After a lengthy debate it is believed the group decided their organisation had no military future and agreed to call a permanent cessation of violence.
The move followed intense pressure from the two governments and visits to the homes of leaders last week by leading Provisional IRA figures who warned them to disband within a fortnight.
Direct contacts with political leaders were understood to have been made through Belfast priest Father Alex Reid while the Government's top Northern advisor Martin Mansergh was kept informed of developments indirectly.
Senior security forces are not convinced that the former quartermaster and his allies will remain on the sidelines but accept that the Real IRA as a terror organisation has been effectively disbanded from today.
Apart from the political pressure, the Real IRA also suffered a massive public backlash which ensured they could no longer rely on peripheral sympathisers to provide safe houses and support.
However, the declaration will not impinge on the RUC and Garda probe into the Omagh bombing and the crackdown on those responsible for the blast which killed 29 people.
Garda and RUC anti-terrorist chiefs are targeting at least 25 suspects as part of a crackdown on the key players in the splinter group.
A week before the Clare meeting the group had issued a statement announcing a "suspension of hostilities" and said it was starting consultations to decide its future. Constant Garda surveillance meant they were wary of calling a meeting of the leadership but last night they felt confident enough to go ahead.
The decision means that the only republican splinter group opposed to the peace process not to have declared a ceasefire is the Continuity IRA and it is believed by security sources to be almost defunct as its main activists along the Border had defected to the Real IRA.
Stormont First Minister David Trimble and Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams are to have bilateral talks in Belfast this week as part of negotiations designed to ease the new Assembly into operational mode. Thursday's planned talks follow yesterday's first direct face-to-face encounter involving the two opposing politicians.
Further Information
Publisher: IRISH INDEPENDENT
Ref: II/144
Published Date: 08-Sep-98
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