No place for illegal guns in society
THERE is no place for illegal weapons in our society.
They have brought murder, mayhem and misery and caused deep scars in the community, which will be there for generations.
Loyalists and republicans used the gun and bomb to wage a vicious campaign of terror on the people of Northern Ireland. More than three-and-a-half thousand people died in what became known as the Troubles and we never want to go back to those dark days.
Apart from a small group of republican dissidents who are still intent on destroying lives, most of the paramilitaries seem to be trying to move on.
The IRA put its weapons "beyond use" a few years ago and the news that one of Northern Ireland's main loyalist paramilitary groups has decommissioned a "significant" quantity of weapons is a positive step for everyone.
The Government was told of the UVF move by General John de Chastelain, head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning. It is understood the Canadian general watched the act in the past week.
It has been reported as well that the Ulster Defence Association has also been engaged in a series of meetings with the general, but it is not yet clear if the organisation has started the process of decomissioning. There can be no excuse – they must also decommission.
It has been a long time coming but the move by the UVF should be welcomed.
The loyalist leadership has shown an increased maturity in recent times, despite the deliberate provocation by republican dissidents who wanted to create community tension. Thankfully loyalists have not responded to the bait set by the dissidents.
A lot of hard work has been done behind the scenes by many people, determined to change people's mindsets and bring normality to our province.
Whatever our differences are, they should be settled by democratic politics.
Let us all pray that democracy has finally overcome the rule of the gun and bomb.
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Weather for Belfast
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
