The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland has welcomed the fact that
the long overdue decommissioning of terrorist weapons has
begun.
It is vital however that this is not a "one off"
event but part of a speedy programme to put all terrorist
weapons beyond use together with the dismantling of terrorist
organisations. We do not want token decommissioning but total
decommissioning.
Political events over a number of years has taught us regrettably
to be rather cynical and we expect that this move will have
brought promises of further concessions from Her Majesty's
Government.
Whilst recognising that the changed atmosphere since the
tragic events of September 11th in America has undoubtedly
made it more difficult for terrorists we commend those who
have for many years consistently demanded that weapons must
be taken out of the equation.
In light of this we urge all unionists to stand firm to ensure
that real democracy is restored to Northern Ireland and that
those allied to terrorist organisations are not rewarded for
the removal of weapons used to murder and maim whilst the
voice of law abiding citizens frequently goes unheeded.
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