As messengers go, Seanna Walsh certainly had street cred. The I.R.A. veteran had spent 21 years in prison for a series of offenses, including bombmaking, before he delivered a statement last week formally ending the organization's 36-year armed campaign to force Britain out of Northern Ireland. But skeptics noted that the group had made promises in the past without ever fully giving up violence--or the intimidation of witnesses to foil prosecutions. To address the doubters, Cabinet members in London and Dublin asked a watchdog agency to report next January on whether the I.R.A. is sticking to its vow. "It's time to...
A Farewell to Arms
The I.R.A. promises to disarm, but are they serious?
Subscriber content preview.
or
Log-In
To continue reading:
or
Log-In