If you thought politics couldn’t get more devalued and cynical, Secretary of State for NI Paul Murphy provides proof to the contrary. He has announced today, as trailed earlier here by Gonzo, that the UDA and UFF are to have their self-declared ceasefires officially recognised.Not, you’ll note, that there actually is a ceasefire in operation, Murphy points to “some reduction in paramilitary activity by its members over the past six months” and his belief that “[he is] persuaded that UDA is now prepared to go down a different road, moving away from its paramilitary past.” – not has moved, but may move.
As the BBC report puts it – “The government has officially recognised the Ulster Defence Association’s ceasefire in a bid to move the peace process forward.”
So there you have it, a tacit public admission from the Government that such recognitions of ‘ceasefires’ are completely meaningless – they are simply political chicanery.
It is a fictitious statment by Paul Murphy and it further debases, if that is possible, the entire political process here.
How long now, I wonder, before we hear the excuse of “internal house-keeping”… again.