Legalise the IRA..?

IF the IRA isn’t going to go away completely, but is prepared to adhere to “purely political and democratic means”, “it could transform into something as demonstrably militarily innocuous as the GAA”, suggests Anthony McIntyre.In such circumstances, argues the the two governments could take the responsibility out of unionist hands, make the call on whether the IRA has ended all paramilitary and related criminal activity, and legalise it. Since a legislative loophole means it’s no longer illegal to be an IRA member, such a step might not sound as far-fetched as it appears at first glance.

ADDS: After checking, it appears that it’s no longer illegal to be a UVF member or UDA member either, as the loophole applies to groups on a recognised ceasefire.

To be honest, this interpretation of the law appears to be something the Government has deliberately chosen not to address. Wonder why…

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.