Stormont: Still mothballed

The IRA has said it will not meet DUP demands to publish photos of its decommissioning.

In a Thursday morning statement on the stalled talks, the paramilitary organisation said it was willing to decommission all arms as it "moves into a new mode".

But it indicated the photograph issue was still a sticking point in the talks aimed at restoring the devolved institutions.

"We restate our commitment to the peace process. But we will not submit to a process of humiliation. We commend our volunteers and the wider republican base for their patience and discipline in these testing times," said the IRA statement.

"Our commitment, like theirs, to our republican objectives is undiminished. While acknowledging these efforts, we reiterate our view that progress cannot be made by pandering to the demands of those who are against change.

"The search for a just and lasting peace is a challenging one. The IRA leadership has risen to that challenge. The British government and the leaders of unionism must do likewise."

Republican sources added: "It is clear from this statement that the IRA was prepared to move in an unprecedented way to liberate the peace process and in a way that deals with the genuine concerns of all reasonable people."

'Significant promise'

Following the narrow failure to secure a deal between the political parties on restoring the Stormont assembly, Northern Ireland secretary Paul Murphy told MPs that progress had been made in bringing the DUP into support for devolution and power-sharing.

He also hailed success in winning a promise from the IRA that it would decommission all of its weapons before the executive was back up and running.

"The House will know that despite this remarkable progress there remains an outstanding issue which could not be resolved.

"That is the transparency with which the decommissioning process should be carried out," Murphy said.

He also praised "the significance of the promise of a completion of IRA decommissioning by the end of the year".

"But both [British and Irish] governments also recognise that public confidence in the process is critical to the success of any settlement and the wider political stability of Northern Ireland," he said.

"We believed that this proposal should be acceptable to all. But I am absolutely convinced that the day when the final piece of the jigsaw can be put in place is not far off.

"I remain optimistic that we will be able to resolve the outstanding issues and restore devolution."

Volunteers

Under the terms of the deal all IRA volunteers be given specific instructions not to engage in any activity which might thereby endanger that new agreement.

The IRA leadership also decided that "we will, in this context, conclude the process to completely and verifiably put all our arms beyond use".

"We instructed our representative to agree with the IICD the completion of this process, speedily, and if possible by the end of December," added the statement.

To "further enhance public confidence" the IRA had agreed presence of two clergymen as observers during the decommissioning process.

But the DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson is calling on Republicans to "set themselves some serious questions about what has happened" in the negotiations.

Speaking on Wednesday Tony Blair said the stalemate was regrettable but vowed to press ahead with discussions aimed at securing a lasting peace in the province.