Discussion: Decommissioning of Arms

Constitutional and democratic politics in Ireland have been hampered and distorted by groups who use violence and the threat of violence to destabilise the polity in order to derive political advantage.  The Good Friday Agreement represented the theoretical acceptance that politics should be pursued via constitutional and democratic means.  In addition, there was in place a framework for the process of practical decommissioning of all weapons by May 2000.  This aspect of the agreement has been referred to as "taking the gun out of Irish politics".  However, as some of the articles below suggest, there is still an impasse on this central tenet of the Peace Agreement: Decommissioning of Arms has not commenced and some constitutional political parties refuse to participate in a government that includes a party who hold a private army in reserve.

New Dialogue Policy Statement on Decommissioning
At its meeting in May, New Dialogue adopted this policy on arms decommissioning.

Decommissioning of arms chronology, by Stephen Plowden
A chronology of the decommissioning issue: decommissioning is now the crucial issue in the Northern Ireland peace process.  New Dialogue hopes the chronology outlined below will help explain the background to this issue.  The chronology, compiled by Stephen Plowden, a member of the executive of New Dialogue, covers the period December 1993 to December 1998.


No such thing as token decommissioning, by Gary Kent
Even if weapons aren't used, there remain deeper democratic reasons for decommissioning. A party with a private army undermines democracy. And the threat of violence poisons politics.