MULHOLLAND WELCOMES DECOMMISSIONING STATEMENT AHEAD OF NORTHERN IRELAND VISIT

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 27th Sep 2005

Ahead of his visit to Northern Ireland this week, Greg Mulholland, MP for Leeds North West, has commented today on the confirmation from the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) that IRA decommissioning has been completed. Greg, who is a member of the Northern Ireland Grand Committee, welcomed the news but warned of the need to end vigilante violence.

Greg is leaves for Northern Ireland on the evening of Wednesday 28 September after Charles Kennedy has completed his visit to Leeds North West. Greg's visit to Northern Ireland is an official visit organised by the Northern Ireland Office as part of his duties on the Northern Ireland Grand Committee. Greg is due to meet with representatives of the six main Parties in Northern Ireland.

Commenting on his pending visit to Northern Ireland this week, Greg said:

"I am very much looking forward to my first official visit to Northern Ireland, with fellow MP and Northern Ireland Grand Committee member, Lorely Burt. I think it is fundamentally important to see the situation for myself and meet with representatives from the main political parties in order to inform my position on the Northern Ireland Grand Committee. It is also a vital step in maintaining good communicative links."

Commenting on the decommissioning statement, Greg said:

"The IRA have lived up to their statement of 28th July and destroyed the remainder of their weapons. I don't need photographs to provide it, and those who claim they are essential are simply holding out against the logic of the situation. Reasonable people will be reassured that there will not be a return to the widespread terrorism of the last 30 years."

"The IRA and other paramilitary organizations now need to display a wider compliance with all the terms of 'Paragraph 13' of the Joint Declaration. They need to start to engage fully with the IICD, and the underlying level of vigilante violence by both loyalist and republican paramilitaries has to end.

"The decommissioning of IRA weapons has been a major stumbling block in the peace process, but there is now no excuse for politicians on all sides to resist sensible negotiations. It's a necessary step in restarting the devolved institutions. Those politicians who now resist this next step will largely be responsible for the stalling the normalisation of politics in the province."