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Mr Cowen: insists on
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The Minister for Foreign Affairs today underscored his faith in the IRA move to decommission its weapons.
Mr Cowen responded to suggestions the disarmament move had been only minimal by declaring: "This is not a fudge. This happened. It is of significance".
He said the modalities of disarming had been set out in detailed schemes accepted by the Dáil and the House of Commons.
In addition, the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, headed by General John de Chastelain, would have set out to the IRA what was required to describe the decommissioning as significant.
"General de Chastelain had a very clear mandate. Certainly he has had to be very patient, but his integrity and professionalism have not be questioned by anybody".
Mr Cowen said: "The fact of the matter is we all know how serious an issue this is in terms of republicanism and the fact that decommissioning has begun shows that is an obvious significant step.
"If we want to get all arms put beyond use, that is best done by not giving the details in this particular matter - for obvious reasons - because of the significance of maintaining this as part of a process," he said.
"This is not a question of providing a report to meet the political exigencies of a situation. General de Chastelain's independence cannot be questioned".
Mr Cowen said: "Obviously what we are seeing here is the start of a process. A processing has been initiated to put arms beyond use".
PA