As widely signalled, the new security measures unveiled by the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, in Omagh last evening dovetail with the measures announced by the Taoiseach last week. In some important respects, the British package is less wide-ranging than that proposed by the Government. There is, for example, no provision for the seizure of lands used for storing weapons or making bombs. And, critically, there is no provision made for the possible introduction of internment. It is to be hoped that Mr Blair will not come to regret this. Internment is a weapon of last resort and hopefully that last resort may not be reached. But, in declining to mirror this State's measures, Mr Blair runs the risk of weakening a future security response.
For all that, the shared determination of both governments to reflect the public's anguish and its deep sense of anger in the aftermath of Omagh could scarcely be more manifest. There is both symbolism and reassurance in the sight of the governments working in concert to defeat the terrorist threat.
Even in the wake of Omagh, it is clear that the threat from republican irredentists remains formidable. It may be that the scale of the threat was underestimated by both the Garda and the RUC. As the security correspondent of this newspaper reported last Saturday, the `Real IRA' has been able to muster a significant level of support from disaffected former Provisionals in south Armagh and in pockets throughout this State. It appears clear that the organisation has access to an arsenal of arms and explosives abandoned by the Provisionals.
Out of the horror of Omagh it is possible to discern some positive things. The political process has been strengthened and the commitment to peace among ordinary people is stronger than ever. Alongside the grief of funerals and services, a number of remarkable developments have occurred. Sinn Fein's leaders, for the first time, unequivocally condemned republican violence. Mr David Trimble found himself applauded in the Catholic church in Buncrana at the funeral Mass for the town's young victims. The INLA, arguably the most vicious of the republican splinter groups, declared a ceasefire and issued an apology. The LVF, which does not qualify for the prison release scheme, has offered to begin decommissioning in exchange for prisoner releases.
Such has been the anger and revulsion at the Omagh atrocity, those who are committed to the political path have been granted a valuable opportunity to consolidate their position. In the climate of grief and resolution which has followed the bombing, it is possible for political groups to move further and faster than previously contemplated. Indeed, it is necessary for them to do so. Within three weeks, Mr Trimble and the Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, have to begin addressing the creation of a new shadow executive. Serious questions hang over that process for Mr Trimble and the Ulster Unionists in regard to Sinn Fein's participation. Sinn Fein can do much to move the process onward. A declaration that the war is finally over and some movement on decommissioning would transform the situation. It would open the way for Mr Trimble to do business with Sinn Fein in the shadow executive and remove the very real danger of a political stalemate.
Despite the condemnation of Omagh, Mr Adams and his senior lieutenants have allowed a dangerous ambiguity about violence to persist for too long. In the aftermath of Omagh, there is a special burden of responsibility on the Sinn Fein leadership to remove it.