Weston Park plan set to be implemented

The Irish and British governments' Weston Park plan looks set to be implemented once General John de Chastelain confirms that…

The Irish and British governments' Weston Park plan looks set to be implemented once General John de Chastelain confirms that IRA disarmament had begun.

Under the Weston Park plan, the two governments have committed themselves to the "normalisation" of security.

Over time, this would mean the "vacation, return or demolition of the great majority of Army bases, the demolition of all surveillance towers, no further Army presence in police stations and the use of Army helicopters for training purposes only".

It is expected as an initial response to IRA decommissioning, the British government will demolish Magherafelt Army base, the super-sangar at Newtownhamilton RUC Station and two observation towers in Camlough, in south Armagh.

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Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid has already begun to implement commitments on policing by publishing an implementation plan for the reforms and establishing a Police Board involving unionist and nationalist Assembly members.

The Weston Park package also saw the two governments commit themselves to:

  • A review of the controversial Parades Commission which decides on the routes of contentious marches.
  • The appointment of a judge to investigate allegations of state collusion on either side of the border in the l killings of solicitors Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson, LVF leader Billy Wright in the Maze Prison, Lord Justice and Lady Gibson, RUC Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan, and Portadown Catholic Robert Hamill.
  • An amnesty for paramilitaries at large not covered by the Belfast Agreement's early prisoner release scheme.
  • The formation of an implementation group to oversee the handling of the Agreement.
  • The operation by all parties in good faith of all the political institutions.