The rocky road to decommissioning: Revisiting the decommissioning of Irish Republican Army weapons part 1 - August 1994 to October 2001

Leahy, Thomas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2046-3339 2025. The rocky road to decommissioning: Revisiting the decommissioning of Irish Republican Army weapons part 1 - August 1994 to October 2001. Irish Political Studies Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Decommissioning of paramilitary weapons formed a crucial part of Northern Ireland’s peace process. But the decommissioning of Irish Republican Army (IRA) weapons (the most prominent paramilitary group) was protracted prior to their first decommissioning act in October 2001. Some scholars argue Republicans deliberately strung-out decommissioning to gain concessions. Others concur but also suggest additional factors, including Irish Republican anger at the slow delivery of British reforms. Using the latest Irish and UK archival releases alongside memoirs and interviews, I provide fresh insight into IRA decommissioning up to October 2001. The central problem was the initial lack of movement on political and security reforms by the British Government and Ulster Unionists. As the conflict ended in a stalemate, Republicans believed political and security reforms were required alongside decommissioning. The Good Friday Agreement also stipulated that decommissioning would be paralleled by other reforms. This article uniquely explains how a British Government sense of neutrality towards managing the peace process alongside the British Army’s reluctance to demilitarise stalled decommissioning. It offers ideas on how not to introduce and initially manage decommissioning during peace processes.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Cardiff Law & Politics
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D204 Modern History D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D901 Europe (General) D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races J Political Science > JF Political institutions (General) J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration
Additional Information:	This article will be published Gold Open Access shortly.
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
ISSN:	0790-7184
Funders:	Royal Historical Society
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	31 October 2025
Last Modified:	04 Nov 2025 15:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/182034

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