Richard Delevan's sicNotes: Reactions to the Speech

BBC has a great roundup here.

Excerpts below:

BERTIE AHERN

"Nothing less than a complete and decisive end to all IRA activity and capability will be acceptable if there is to be any prospect of achieving inclusive politics in Northern Ireland.

"The only way forward is through peaceful and democratic means.

"It is vital that the IRA's consultations be concluded in a timely manner and that everyone will know that the necessary steps have been taken, that they will be adhered to and that the IRA is thus moving on.

"For so many years we have had false dawns and dashed hopes."

QUOTED ELSEWHERE: Statement was "significant, has potential, can only be judged on the basis of IRA actions on the foot of it."

DOWNING STREET

"Obviously the key will be what the IRA does as a result, and it's on that that any final judgment must be made.

"But we hope this represents the way forward for republicanism because the only way forward is through exclusively peaceful and democratic means."

DUP LEADER IAN PAISLEY

"It is an insult to democrats what he is saying and no-one will be taken in. I don't think there is any hope for Sinn Fein and the IRA.

"There must be a complete and total abandonment of IRA/Sinn Fein and that's not going to happen.

"The DUP won't be back in any negotiating table. He (Gerry Adams) has put himself outside the arena.

"It is all over. There is no place in any democracy for terrorists and no place for IRA/Sinn Fein."

IAN PAISLEY, JR (on Today FM's Last Word with Matt Cooper)
"Underwhelmed." "Where's the beef?" [WE hadn't heard that since 1986 or so]

ULSTER UNIONIST LEADER DAVID TRIMBLE

"Republicans made a promise to Ulster Unionists in May 2000 that they would disarm completely and in a manner to maximise public confidence.

"They also promised in that statement to pursue their objectives peacefully and democratically. These promises were not kept.

"If republicans wish to be included in talks then they must rebuild their credibility by doing all the things they should have done and present themselves as a purely peaceful democratic movement with no private army."

NIALL O'DOWD (Publisher of the Irish Voice, interviewed on RTE 5-7 Live)

People here [in the US] will see it as a truly historic speech – leader of SF saying the IRA campaign should be over – that there's one path, a political path. And doing it exactly for the right reasons at the right time.

RTE: Do you think this means disbandment?

Adams would not have made the speech if that were not the aim.

RTE: Safe that gerry knows the response?

Gerry Adams would have had uppermost in his mind that he would not ever want to provoke a split – quite confident that anyone with any sort of thinking mind (sic) would agree with him. They’ve become players on this issue in a way they only could have dreamt of 10 yrs ago – now there are Westminster elections.

What may emerge eventually is that Tony Blair had something to do with it. Definitely a significant factor.

RTE: How important was American input?

President Bush’s input was very significant – [over Paddy's Day week] he had [US envoy to Northern Ireland Mitchell] Reiss meet with Sinn Fein, he didn't single out Sinn Fein. Very significant in saying that America is still an honest broker on Northern Ireland, as much as it was under George Mitchell and Bill Clinton. As this sinks in and as an IRA statement follows – Adams once more delivering what he said he would deliver.

ENDA KENNY (Fine Gael leader, on Today FM's Last Word with Matt Cooper)

"I assumed Gerry Adams would make a strong statement about the McCartney murder or decommissioning. It offends me in its first line. There is nothing new in this speech at all. "

ALLIANCE PARTY LEADER DAVID FORD

"The speech is basically a reiteration, albeit in even stronger language than before, that their armed struggle should end and the IRA move into a new phase of activity.

"However, it fails to address the key questions as to whether republicans are prepared to accept the same common standards of democracy, human rights and the rule of law as everyone else on the island of Ireland.

"Do republicans accept that it is no longer legitimate for them to run a private army or police force in competition to either the northern or southern state?

"Do they accept that a crime is a crime, even when IRA activists have committed it?"

CONSERVATIVE NORTHERN IRELAND SPOKESMAN DAVID LIDDINGTON

"People need to see evidence that the Republican Movement has changed for good. That means an end to republican involvement in crime.

"It means Sinn Fein should support the police. It means the end of the IRA as an active paramilitary organisation and the decommissioning of illegally held guns and explosives."

LIB DEM SHADOW NORTHERN IRELAND SECRETARY LEMBIT OPIK

"What Mr Adams is asking of the paramilitary movement will not be easy for some. But it is clearly the right thing to do and I would hope that they will be able to respond in the very short term.

"Many of us have invested a great deal of time and effort in the process and the ball is in the paramilitaries' court to make the next moves towards making a peaceful Northern Ireland a reality."