The Irish Republican Army's Provisional wing last week offered the cease-fire that Northern Ireland had been awaiting for three sad and bloody years. If it could secure "a public reciprocal response" from British forces in Northern Ireland, the I.R.A. said, its units were prepared to "suspend offensive operations" beginning this week. Barely two hours later came the British answer. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw assured the House of Commons that the 15,000 troops in Ulster would "obviously reciprocate" if the I.R.A. called off its bombers and gunmen, to...
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