Trimble: "There's never been any doubt about what has to be done"

January 31, 2000
Web posted at: 12:24 p.m. EST (1724 GMT)

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- Northern Ireland Protestant leader David Trimble warned on Monday that if a decommissioning report shows the Irish Republican Army is not disarming it will signal the repudiation of the power sharing agreement for the troubled province.

Trimble, who is first minister in the home rule government, said that if the republican movement isn't willing to turn over its weapons, the Northern Ireland government would have to be suspended, at least temporarily.

"If we don't get it, the problem is how are we going to proceed," Trimble told CNN, referring to the requirement that the IRA begin "decommissioning," or turning in its weapons.

AUDIO Northern Ireland Protestant leader David Trimble comments on the decommissioning report 1.4mb/32 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     MESSAGE BOARD Peace in Northern Ireland?

Canadian General John de Chastelain is due to present a report on the progress of the decommissioning to the British government. The agreement that created the home rule government called for complete disarmament by May 22, but recent statements from the republic side have not satisfied the Unionists' demands.

Demand for 'destruction' of weapons

The Ireland on Sunday newspaper said de Chastelain would tell the British and Irish governments that the IRA had put most of its weapons into secret, sealed dumps in the Irish Republic. But Trimble said that stops short of the tenets of the agreement.

"Decommissioning has got a very clear meaning because it involves the destruction (of weapons), either by the commission or by people themselves, under verifiable conditions," he said. "So there's no doubt on what has to be done. There's never been any doubt about what has to be done."

There were suggestions that de Chastelain might delay turning in his report in the hope that the IRA might make some move on decommissioning.

In terms of how to proceed should the report show the IRA is not cooperating, Trimble said, "As far as I'm concerned it would be based on the principles contained within the agreement" which sets up the home rule government.

"The agreement contained decommissioning," Trimble said. "If they are saying they are never decommissioning, they are repudiating the agreement. If they are threatening a return to violence, then obviously, they are showing they are not committed to peace and democracy."

Trimble added that further violence in the three-decade long conflict is "simply not acceptable."

"This is what this is all about -- is there a commitment to peace and democracy, or are we dealing with a terrorist organization that is determined to hold on to its guns, to threaten violence if it doesn't get its way, or to actually carry out violence?" he said.

Correspondent Nic Robertson contributed to this report

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.