Gerry Adams 'regrets so many' Troubles lives lost - but suggests UK to blame for IRA ceasefire taking so long to come about
The IRA’s 2005 ultimate ceasefire took decades to bring about, Gerry Adams has said – but he suggested the UK government was responsible for it taking so long, due to a focus on ‘defeating republicanism’.
Although a number of ceasefires had been announced and collapsed since 1994, the July 2005 statement saw the formal end of the IRA’s paramilitary campaign.
Seeing the start of weapon decommissioning, the statement said IRA members had been instructed to use exclusively peaceful means, and not to engage in any other activities whatsoever.
Speaking ahead of an Feile An Phobail event to mark the 20th anniversary of the ceasefire, the former Sinn Fein president also said he regretted the number of lives lost during the Troubles, but maintained the IRA has already apologised for “civilian casualties” in events such as Bloody Friday – the July 1972 atrocity that killed nine and injured 130 when at least 20 bombs were detonated in Belfast city centre over an 80-minute period.
Reflecting on the 2005 ceasefire, Mr Adams described the move as seismic, and an “indication of confidence” by “all the IRA” and not just its leadership.
“The statement came after there had been some sort of internal process, a huge vote of confidence in people,” he said. “It took decades for it to be put together.
“You have to go back to Father Alec Reid, Father Des Wilson, myself, John Hume and the endeavour to put together an alternative to armed struggle.
“It took all that time to do that, but that’s what the IRA said in its statement; that they believed there was now a peaceful way to pursue republican and democratic objectives, and ordered its volunteers to not be engaged in any other activity whatsoever, and authorised contact with the International Commission on Decommissioning.
“It took decades and one of my regrets is that it took so long. In my humble opinion it took so long because the two governments, particularly the British government, only sought peace on its terms, which meant defeat the IRA, it meant defeat republicanism and that doesn’t work, our people are resolute.”
He added: “The proof of it is that 20 years later the IRA isn’t a feature. Some may want to make it a feature, invent, fabricate and so on, but that’s the proof of it.”
Asked whether he felt the IRA should issue an apology for all the lives lost by their actions, Mr Adam pointed to a statement in 2002 on the anniversary of Bloody Friday.
It included an offer of “sincere apologies and condolences” to the families of all “non-combatants” killed or injured by IRA actions.
“I think in fairness that the record will show that the IRA leadership have apologised on a number of occasions about specific incidents or operations which it was involved in, particularly around the issue of civilian casualties or fatalities,” he said.
“One of the big regrets that I have is that so many people were killed, and particularly people who weren’t involved and particularly children, that’s a real concern. I say that from a community and a family which lost loved ones in the course of all of this.”