Details of the IRA arsenal and the process of decommissioning it.
Weapons to be decommissioned included about 700 rifles, mostly Kalashnikovs but also some Armalites, two or three tonnes of Semtex, about 50 machine guns, a couple of high-powered sniper rifles, hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition, rocket launchers, detonators, flame throwers, revolvers and at least one surface-to-air missile.
The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) rules applied by Gen John de Chastelain are that the arsenals must either be rendered beyond use or made permanently inaccessible. That meant major mechanical activity, possibly cementing over dumps or cutting up the weapons so that they could not be used again. It must be clear that dissident republicans cannot dig up the guns and recommission them.
The commissioners must be certain that the Semtex is not going to explode in months or years to come. The IICD has "explosive ordnance" experts from Canada and the US to advise them on how to ensure the material cannot be reactivated or accessed.
At least two commissioners participated in each decommissioning event and the extra member on the team eased what would have been a heavy schedule. They were also in the company of the IRA and a Protestant and Catholic cleric.