This report is being issued following our appointment as arms dumps inspectors on 6 May 2000 and our first inspection of IRA weapons dumps.
We accepted our appointment on the basis of terms of reference set out in a joint statement issued by the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach and the statement by the leadership of the IRA on 6 May 2000.
In its statement of 6 May, the IRA leadership pledged to initiate a process that will completely and verifiably put IRA arms beyond use in the context of the statements made by the two governments on May 5 2000. Besides undertaking to resume contact with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD), the IRA leadership agreed to put in place within weeks a confidence-building measure to confirm that their weapons remain secure.
We see our mandate as being the inspection of the contents of a number of IRA arms dumps, reporting to the IICD that we have done so, and reinspecting these dumps regularly to ensure that the weapons have remained secure.
In preparing for the first inspection visit, we were briefed by the British Prime Minister, the Irish Foreign Minister, the British Secretary of State and the Commissioners of the IICD. We also consulted most of the parties that have endorsed the Good Friday agreement.
In addition, we consulted independent specialists in the field of arms control, who had previously participated in arms inspections elsewhere and had expertise in the area of verification. The purpose of these consultations was to help us develop credible methods for inspection and verification.
We have now carried out our first inspection. We inspected a number of arms dumps. The arms dumps held a substantial amount of military material, including explosives and related equipment, as well as weapons and other materials.
We observed that the weapons and explosives were safely and adequately stored. We have ensured that the weapons and explosives cannot be used without our detection.
We are satisfied with the co-operation extended to us by the IRA to ensure a credible and verifiable inspection. All our requests were satisfactorily met.
We plan to reinspect the arms dumps on a regular basis to ensure that the weapons have remained secure.
The process that led to the inspection visit and the way in which it was carried out make us believe that this is a genuine effort by the IRA to advance the peace process.