Arms move is '13 years too late'
A MOTHER whose son was murdered by the INLA says that an expected announcement that it has decommissioned comes "13 years too late".
The Irish National Liberation Army was behind the deaths of more than 100 people during its reign of bloodshed, including the killing of Conservative MP Airey Neave in 1979.
Pauline Bradshaw's son, 24-year-old Darren Bradshaw, was shot dead by the terror group in a Belfast bar in 1997. He was an off-duty RUC officer.
"It is 13 years too late for my son," she said, reiterating her reaction to news four months ago that the terror group was ending its campaign.
"I just hope that we don't have more people being shot. It just seems like yesterday Darren was shot.
"I still don't know why he was targeted, there was not an officious bone in his body. The only place I can see him now is in the graveyard, which I visit three or four times a week for a chat, as mothers do."
Darren's murder came nine months after the mother-of-four lost another son in a car accident, which compounded her trauma.
East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell said the news was "long overdue".
"This group were responsible for one of the worst atrocities in Northern Ireland's history, the Droppin' Well bomb which killed 17 people in Ballykelly in 1982 as well as many others," he said. "All too often when moves like this occur there is a tendency to forget what was carried out by these groups. As we move to the future we must not forget the past."
The Irish National Liberation Army killed over 100 people during its reign of bloodshed. The splinter group was responsible for some of the most infamous attacks of the Troubles, including the killing of Conservative MP Airey Neave in 1979. A republican source claimed the decommissioning happened in recent weeks.
Four months ago the INLA used a graveside oration outside Dublin to confirm its "armed struggle is over" and vowed to end its 35-year campaign of violence in Northern Ireland.
There was confusion however, regarding whether or not the group was prepared to decommission its illegal arsenal of weapons, after the statement read to supporters failed to promise a disposal of arms.
The INLA's announcement will coincide with the end of legislation that allows armed groups to dispose of their weaponry without fear of prosecution.
Once the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) ceases to exist any paramilitaries found in possession of weapons face prosecution and imprisonment. Recovered arms will also be forensically tested to secure convictions.
The loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force decommissioned last year, while the loyalist Ulster Defence Association put its weapons beyond use last month. The IRA was witnessed destroying its cache almost five years ago.
The INLA was formed in 1974 and was known as a brutally violent organisation that also engaged in bitter internal feuds. In 1979 it claimed the life of Conservative shadow secretary for Northern Ireland Airey Neave, a close associate of Margaret Thatcher, who was killed when a boobytrap bomb exploded beneath his car at the House of Commons.
Alliance Leader David Ford agreed the move was "long overdue".
"The days of hatred and violence have to be over forever," he said. "Northern Ireland has moved a great distance forward, but we must never be complacent. We must build a genuinely shared society to rid this region of the spectre of terrorism," he said.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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