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Date Posted: 17:17:51 03/15/05 Tue GMT
Author: Lynn
Subject: Rep. Walsh calls for end of IRA (Newsday)

Rep. Walsh calls for end of IRA
By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press Writer

March 14, 2005, 9:21 PM EST

WASHINGTON -- The head of a key Irish-American group in Congress said Tuesday the Irish Republican Army should "go out of business," saying the group's recent spate of alleged misdeeds was hurting the peace process.
The new position by Rep. James Walsh, chair of the 100-member Friends of Ireland, marks a remarkable shift in official and popular support among Americans for Northern Ireland's Republican movement.
Walsh, R-Onondaga, whose criticism of the IRA mirrors that of Peter King, R-Long Island, said he would make the case later this week to Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Fein, the political group affiliated with the IRA.
Walsh said he would tell Adams that "it is time for the IRA to go out of business, and that they are hurting the process."
The IRA and Adams have faced a barrage of criticism following a major bank heist in December blamed on the group and a killing at a Belfast pub in which IRA members apparently intimidated witnesses to prevent arrests of those responsible.
"I'm at the point, I have to say, that I think Sinn Fein political leadership has kept every promise that they've made," Walsh said. "However, it looks to me that the IRA has lost its discipline and these activities, alleged and admitted, are really damaging the credibility of the Republican movement."
King made an even more forceful argument, saying an armed paramilitary group in Northern Ireland is no longer necessary and only endangers the peace process.
"It's time for the IRA to disband and go away," said King.
"Ireland is a different world than it was ten years ago, even seven years ago. ... There is no longer any purpose for the IRA, and more is going to be achieved by the IRA going away than the IRA staying around."
King and Walsh both emphasized that they were not criticizing Adams, saying the dissolution of the IRA would strengthen Adams' credibility, not weaken it.
King also chided Sen. Edward Kennedy for saying he will not meet with Adams this week.
"Ted Kennedy is wrong. Gerry Adams has proven himself over the last ten years as being committed to the peace process," he said.
In response, Kennedy said, "Sinn Fein and the IRA need to understand that the vast majority of Irish Americans deplore and condemn violence and criminality. The IRA's criminality is undermining the peace process, and it's time for Sinn Fein and the IRA to hear this message clearly from the United States."
The comments by Walsh and King come at the start of a busy week of Irish politicking in the United States.
Walsh welcomes Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern to Syracuse, N.Y., Tuesday.
The same day, sisters of Robert McCartney arrive in Washington for a series of meetings about the death of their brother in a bar fight, apparently at the hands of IRA members who then covered up the crime.
In a move that shocked many, the IRA issued a statement last week saying it had offered to shoot four people identified as responsible for McCartney's killing.
The McCartney sisters have been invited to the White House and the Capitol Hill luncheon. In a break with recent tradition, no Northern Ireland political leaders were invited to either event, a sign of official Washington's growing frustration with the IRA's role in stalling peace talks.
The McCartney sisters will also meet this week with Sen. Kennedy, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.

Copyright © 2005, The Associated Press

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