The Green Party has said it will support Labour's call for a Dáil motion seeking the disbandment of all paramilitary groups amid strong Opposition criticism of the IRA's disengagement from the de Chastelain commission. The Green Party leader, Mr Trevor Sargent, said yesterday he would welcome such a motion when the Dáil reconvenes next week.
The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said the IRA announcement was a disappointment as it ran counter to the stated objectives of Mr Gerry Adams and Mr Martin McGuinness to see the disbandment of all paramilitary groups.
"This IRA decision shows what can happen when a political vacuum is allowed to develop. I repeat my call on the two governments to convene immediate meetings with the pro-agreement parties to identify the obstacles that need to be overcome to put the process back on the rails," he said.
"I also urge Sinn Féin to use their influence to persuade the IRA to reverse this decision so that the political process can be given a further chance to succeed. The focus of all involved should be fixed firmly on the full implementation of the Good Friday agreement."
The Labour Party leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, pointed to the fact that this was the second time the IRA had withdrawn its co-operation from the de Chastelain commission, and he accused the republican movement of "speaking with two voices" on decommissioning.
"It is sometimes forgotten that under the terms of the Good Friday agreement decommissioning should have been completed by the summer of 2000. Instead, more than four years after the endorsement of the agreement by an overwhelming majority of the people North and South, we have had little progress and all too much of a pattern of 'one step forward and two steps back'."
He said the IRA announcement was "an extraordinarily retrograde step that will come as a particular disappointment following the generally positive speech given by the leader of Sinn Féin, Gerry Adams, at the weekend."
Mr Sargent said his party "deeply regretted the decision of the IRA to disengage from the decommissioning process headed by Gen John de Chastelain".
However, he said, he hoped this was merely a tactical move that could be resolved quickly.
He welcomed Mr McGuinness's statement that his "war is over". Non-violence was not passive: "It requires courage, tolerance and immense patience, and hopefully Mr McGuinness's transition is part of that long process."