From: Pat Finucane Centre

Decommissioning in the News

"The decommissioning process should be mutual."

General John de Chastelain, Report Of The International Body, 22 January 1996

In an editorial on 1 November 00 the Irish News wrote:

"From start to finish, the Ulster Unionist council meeting at Belfast9's Waterfront Hall last Saturday was dominated by the question of republican arms." The editorial went on, "Many unionist figures have gone out of their way to give the impression that the only threat to the stability of society in Northern Ireland comes from republicans. This is a point of view which cannot be sustained, and it is essential that a degree of balance is brought to the wider debate."

In the twenty four hours preceding the editorial two men had been shot dead in the Greater Belfast area as a result of a loyalist feud.In total there were 216 references to decommissioning during November in the Irish News, Newsletter and Belfast Telegraph. 172 of these focussed exclusively on republican arms. In the entire month the Newsletter carried one reference to loyalist arms. This may surprise no one. Unionists regard republican decommissioning as the litmus test of the peace process. 

They will argue that republican decommissioning is in the spotlight because republicans are participating in government. Given the levels of loyalist violence in recent months many people are asking; where is the 91degree of balance92 referred to in the Irish News editorial? Newspaper coverage reflects the contemporary political discourse. The problem is that the contemporary political discourse on decommissioning does not reflect the spirit of the Good Friday agreement or the reality of ongoing loyalist violence.

In the words of the Good Friday Agreement of April 1998: "All participants accordingly reaffirm their commitment to the total disarmament of all paramilitary organisations."

END

For further information contact Pat Finucane Centre

pfc@iol.ie Tel 02871 268846 Mobile 07989 323418