Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Independent Monitoring Commission has confirmed that the British Government is meeting its commitments to demilitarisation as set out in its Security Normalisation Programme. This programme, as updated on 1 August 2005, is due to be completed by the end of July this year. By this time, and subject to an enabling security environment, British troop levels in Northern Ireland will have been reduced to less that 5,000, all security watchtowers will have been demolished, British troops will have been withdrawn from all ten PSNI stations at which they were based in 2005 and the number of military bases will have been reduced to not more than fourteen.

Since the announcement in August 2005, the British Government have further stated that, going beyond the agreed programme, four additional military bases will be closed by April 2008. I welcome this development. The IMC has also reported progress with regard to the diminishing use of helicopters by the British army in Northern Ireland, the normalisation of patterns of PSNI patrolling and the defortification of PSNI stations.

The Government will continue to follow all these developments closely, and is of the view that demilitarisation measures should continue to be taken to the maximum extent reflective of the dramatic positive changes in the security situation in Northern Ireland. Both Governments remain concerned, however, about ongoing loyalist and dissident republican paramilitary activity. This is totally unacceptable in a context when all efforts should be turned to building a safe and stable future for the people of Northern Ireland.