Sir, - I have just been listening to the TV news with some disbelief. A spokesman for Sinn Fein claimed that there was no historical precedent for demanding the decommissioning of IRA arms before full talks can be held. As a Scot with an abiding affection for Ireland and the Irish, may I point out that the gomme was talking through a hole in his hat or his head.The precedent has been in print long enough in Bunreacht na hEireann for two generations to read it for themselves. Article 15 paragraphs 6:1 and 2 read:"The right to raise and maintain military or armed forces is vested exclusively in the Oireachtas."No military or armed force, other than a military or armed force raised and maintained by the Oireachtas, shall be raised or maintained for any purpose whatsoever."That Constitutional ruling expressly removes constitutional rights from the IRA or any other group attempting to change the Constitution by force rather than by democratic processes. Where every adult citizen has a free vote, there is no room or need for the gun. - Yours, etc.,James S.
Adam,Easter Park Drive,Edinburgh.