Thursday, July 28, 2005

IRA ends armed campaign

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4720863.stm

According to this BBC News report, the IRA have made a statement ending its armed campaign. They have ordered members to pursue only peacful means.

This is kind of a big story because I grew up with regular news reports of IRA bombs going off. One even went off in Shrewsbury which is the next town from where I lived as a child which shocked everybody because it's not a major town or city - it's a town in rural Shropshire.

Strangely, I don't feel particularly moved by the news. The IRA haven't been active really for a few years now and apart from the odd robbery or beating they've been out of the news. Strange, because I felt more of a sense of importance when the Berlin Wall came down even though I was only a child at the time and it was in another country.

Don't get me wrong, it's still great news - especially for Irish people who must be pretty fed up of it hanging over their heads all the time.

I see that the Reverend Ian Paisley has his doubts about the IRA's intentions. That man honestly should never be allowed to set foot in a church, let alone preach from the altar.