It remained to be seen whether the IRA's action was a one-off gesture or the start of a process leading to complete decommissioning, the hardline Ulster Unionist MP, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, said yesterday. There was not sufficient clarity on whether and how the weapons had been put beyond use, he said. "We will need urgent answers from Gen de Chastelain about key questions such as: 'Is this a one-off gesture by the IRA or is it a credible process leading to total disarmament set down in the remit of the independent commission'?"
Mr Donaldson refused to be drawn on whether his party's ministers would take up their posts in the power-sharing Executive again. "If it's a one-off gesture, then that presents a problem for unionism. I think it would be wrong to make a judgment in advance of getting answers from the general."
Another hardline Ulster Unionist MLA, Mr Peter Weir, said he was concerned that the IRA move was "nothing but a cynical ploy". What was needed was a continuous process, not just a simple gesture, he added. "What is on the table at the moment is not enough to convince me that we should go back into government with Sinn FΘin."
But the UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, was clearly pleased. "This is is a day we were told we would never see, IRA arms being put beyond use", he said. "I believed it was in the logic of the process, but I must confess it has taken longer than expected."
The party executive, he said, was due to meet on Saturday, and he would recommend that it approve that Ulster Unionist ministers rejoin the Executive. He said he hoped that the selection of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister could take place next week.
The DUP's deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, challenged the IRA to prove that it was committed to disarmament by satisfying unionists' demands.
Mr Robinson said that the bunkers had been "compromised" because the independent inspectors had been led to them by garda∅ and had been tracked by satellite, so that the locations of the bunkers were now known. "The question is what is the IRA going to decommission after that?" he asked. "As far as unionists are concerned, it's not worth an opening gambit. What is needed is a timetable and verification of it."
Another DUP MLA, Mr Sammy Wilson, said that while the removal of guns was a welcome development, the people of Northern Ireland owed "no gratitude" to the IRA for any partial decommissioning.
"In the face of a worldwide outcry against terrorism, the IRA had little option but to do something about their weapons of murder," he said.