A SPOKESPERSON for South Down Action for Healing Wounds (SDAHW) pointed out that destroying weapons would not bring back all the people murdered by the IRA over the decades.

The spokesperson stated: "I don't think there is enough clarity in the process so far.  Yes, it would be nice to think that the IRA have disposed of their arsenal of weapons, however we as an organisation are not satisfied that this has been done completely and successfully. We don't have any evidence enabling us to judge for ourselves that they have indeed disarmed and that everything has gone beyond use.

"There is no transparency and this is where the whole process has failed it might as well never have happened. It's very well for the Commission and the eyewitnesses to say that the job has been done, but how can it be related to families that have lost one or several members of their family throughout the years?

"The victims can't be brought backtheir day is gone. The murderous campaign of the IRA robbed many an innocent person of their right to life. There are numerous graves and graveyards throughout Northern Ireland, which are standing memorials to the atrocities.

"It's all very well giving us a statistic about the number of things supposedly out of use, but do we know the original quantity that was at their disposal and the amount of weaponry that went to dissident republicans?" 

"The destroyed weaponry could have been obsolete, for all we know."

The spokesperson continued: "What is the British government going to do now? Where do the people of Northern Ireland stand? We have had the removal of the watchtowers and the disbandment of the RIR Home Battalion.  Are we witnessing the early stages of the British withdrawal from Northern Ireland?"

"Look at the Northern Bank robbery.  Where did that money go? The IRA have been a threat to Britain and, in order to safeguard the heart of London city, the government will do anything even if it means giving in to terrorists. Tony Blair is keen on defeating terrorists in London but he hasn't dealt with the threat of terrorism in Northern Ireland. The victims are the forgotten ones.  We are the second-class citizens. Our families have stood up against the threat of terrorism in order to protect our land and the people who reside in Northern Ireland.  How are they being repaid?  By giving in to terrorism.

"Our people need visible evidence as to what has been destroyed and they need to be convinced that the threat of that terrorism is gone. The lives of many families throughout Northern Ireland have been shattered and they have been victimised.

There are still many issues to be addressed, such as the ethnic cleansing, with families pressurised into leaving the area where they were born. Look at the number of people who have been injured in bomb attacks. The harm has been done, the family, social and economic life of Northern Ireland has been pulled apart by these gangsters, and they are still at it. How do we know that the £23m of the Northern Bank robbery hasn¹t been used to purchase new weapons?