The Irish Republican Army has finally done what its critics have long demanded. Last week it formally announced that it was ending its armed campaign to free Northern Ireland from British rule. If carried out, this would, says British Prime Minister Tony Blair, constitute "a step of unparalleled magnitude" in Irish history. That is a big "if." Given the IRA's history, skepticism is in order. But there is every reason to believe that the IRA's conversion might be genuine. If so, the peace process could at last be back on track.
The IRA has fought for over 30 years to get the British out of Northern Ireland. The campaign has resulted in more than 3,500 deaths and left a deep and bitter division that runs through cities, neighborhoods and even some families. At regular intervals, both sides of the political and religious divide have tried to reach out, but those attempts have invariably failed. The usual cause of the breakdown has been the IRA's insistence on the right to retain its weapons and the right to resume the armed struggle. All too often, those demands have been punctuated by killings that proved the group's commitment to the political process was superficial at best, no matter what its political arm insisted.
Last week's announcement appears to end that equivocation. The statement released by the IRA was direct: "All IRA units have been ordered to dump arms. All volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programs through exclusively peaceful means." The move was made "to advance our republican and democratic objectives, including our goal of a united Ireland. We believe there is now an alternative way to achieve this and to end British rule in our country."