Arms Decommissioning and the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement

1 The political parties present at the talks on 10 April 1998 were the Ulster Unionist Party; the Social Democratic and Labour Party; the smaller constitutional parties the Alliance Party, the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition, and Labour (Northern Ireland); Sinn Féin, which is allied to the Provisional IRA; the Progressive Unionist Party, which is allied to the UVF; and the Ulster Democratic Party, which is allied to the UDA.

2 The two governments' statement was reproduced in the Belfast Telegraph, 17 July 1997.

3 `The IRA's Response', An Phoblacht/Republican News, 30 April 1998.

4 `IRA Interview - Rise to the Challenge', An Phoblacht/Republican News, 11 September 1997.

5 Tim Pat Coogan, Michael Collins (London: Arrow, 1991), pp. 198-200.

6 Brendan O'Brien, The Long War (Dublin: O'Brien Press, 1993), p. 279.

7 In one instance in the late 1960s, the IRA sold most of its remaining weaponry to Welsh nationalists. Tim Pat Coogan, The IRA (London: Fontana, 1990), p. 423.

8 Michael Renner, `Small Arms - Big Impact', Peace Matters, April 1998, p. 14.

9 George C. Mitchell, John de Chastelain & Harri Holkeri, Report of the International Body on Arms Decommissioning. Belfast, 22 January 1996.

10 Geraldine Kennedy, `Minister Says No Fudge on Arms Issue in Talks', Irish Times, 30 July 1997.

11 Gerry Moriarty, `UUP Repeats Demands for Early Move on Weapons', Irish Times, 26 November 1997.

12 The Agreement, Agreement Reached in the Multi-Party Negotiations. Belfast, 10 April 1998.

13 Colin McInnes, `The Decommissioning of Arms in Northern Ireland', Bulletin of Arms Control, no. 28, December 1997, pp. 1-5.

14 Jim Cusack, `Destroying Explosives Raises Political, Technical Problems', Irish Times, 30 May 1998.

15 Trevor Findlay, `Northern Ireland: Verifying Decommissioning', Trust & Verify, no. 78, February 1998, pp. 1-3.

16 In November 1997, it was estimated that the Provisional IRA had an arsenal including 600 AK-47s, 40 machine-guns, 18 DShK heavy machine-guns, 150 revolvers, 300 grenades, bazookas, flame-throwers, SAM-7 missiles and over two tonnes of Semtex explosive. These estimates are broadly in accord with other estimates published over the years. See Tom Brady, `IRA Split over Arms Handover', Irish Independent, 6 November 1997.

17 While there are no clear figures available for the amounts of weapons held by loyalists, the weapons listed above have all been used by loyalist groups in the past. It has been reported that between 1994 and 1996 the UDA and UVF imported significant amounts of Powergel explosive, several hundred AK-47s, Uzi sub-machine-guns and hand-guns into Northern Ireland. Jim Cusack, `Arms Concealed on Both Sides of the Border', Irish Times, 14 May 1998.

18 Renner (see note 8 above), p. 14.