§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether their policy changed in any way following the conviction for gun-running to Northern Ireland of Provisional IRA men in Florida; and, if so, how. [HL4109]
4WA
§ Lord Williams of MostynThe then Secretary of State reviewed the status of the Provisional IRA ceasefire in August 1999. Her overall judgment, on advice from her security advisers, was that, taking all the available information into account, the Provisional IRA was maintaining its ceasefire. The courts subsequently upheld that decision.
The Government's consistent position has been that there must be trust and confidence in order to sustain political progress. If there is to be confidence that there is a wholehearted commitment to exclusively peaceful means, there needs to be an end to all paramilitary activity, including preparations for terrorism.