Loyalists greet IRA disarmament with scepticism and disdain
No drinks were on the house in true blue Sandy Row today.
The scale of IRA disarmament may have gone down well in London, Dublin and Washington, but in this small corner of the United Kingdom, sceptical loyalists enjoying an early afternoon pint were far from impressed.
The prevailing mood in the Royal Bar, one of Belfast’s landmark pubs, just opposite from where a new Glasgow Rangers Supporters club is under construction, did not resonate with the rebuilding process which republicans claimed was underway after giving up their weapons of war.
Jim Stout, enjoying a glass of lager, said: “How can anybody expect us to trust the word of the IRA when they have murdered and bombed us for 30 years?”
Friends at the same rectangular table shook their heads in agreement as he also predicted a grim future on the dreary streets outside.
Mr Stout warned: “There is going to be a reversal of roles.
“We (Protestants) are going to turn into republicans and become terrorists instead of freedom fighters.
“We always classed ourselves as defenders of Ulster but we are going to have to change that.”
Photographic evidence he said, would have been more reassuring than the word and assessment of General de Chastelain.
“This is a working class war so working class people need to know if it is true or if it is not true,” the 35-year-old added.
Mr Stout claimed dissident republicans remained a genuine threat.
He asked: “What about the Continuity IRA, the Irish National Liberation Army and the Real IRA?
“Are they going to hand over their guns as well?”
Frank Brown, 52, ordered the next round as he dismissed the prospect of loyalist terror groups scrapping their arsenals.
He said: “As far as loyalist decommissioning goes – no way.
“There is too much of a threat from those other republican organisations.
“And how will the IRA control the dissidents if they have no weapons?”
A short distance from the bar, Martha Acheson took a break from serving customers in Just William’s Café.
The DUP voter’s mood matched the grey skies and light rain outside.
Mrs Acheson, 69, said: “They will never give up their weapons. It is lot of rubbish.
“The Protestant people do not trust them.”
She also questioned why the British government has not asked the IRA to return the £26.5m (€39m) stolen from the Northern Bank last December.
The pensioner added: “In my opinion that money was to buy arms and they are still doing their bad deeds.”
An imposing mural, featuring a masked gunman, greets visitors to the street with the following words: “You are now entering Loyalist Sandy Row, heartland of the South Belfast Ulster Freedom Fighters.”
As a barometer of public opinion it paints an accurate picture of how unionists across the North will greet the ICD statement.
A senior figure in the Ulster Political Research Group said the IRA move was groundbreaking but forecast it would not be taken at face value.
The source said: “The face that they have decommissioned anything is a massive development. There is no doubt about it.
“But they are always going to have enough to defend themselves.
“They are never going to be caught with their trousers down again the way they were in the Falls Road 30 years ago.
“There is always going to be problems with criminality and drug dealers and they will have to defend their communities.”
On the scale of the announcement, the source said: “It is the most significant gesture ever but it brings Ian Paisley a step closer to shaking hands with Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness on the steps of Stormont.
“Whether he is prepared to accept that or whether he will delay it as long as possible remains to be seen.
“If we are going to have a future then that is where it has got to start. Once that handshake takes place it is a whole new scenario.”
Recent events, such as the release of the Shankill bomber Sean Kelly and the rapidity of demilitarisation – ahead of any IRA announcement – were widely viewed by unionists as a series of concessions to republicans, the UPRG official said.
And he said it was vital the British government and the Police Service of Northern Ireland pay heed to the views and concerns of the unionist community.
On the street, which is lined with red, white and blue bunting, Dawn Smith felt betrayed by the British government.
The 41-year-old said: “Everything republicans have asked for – Tony Blair has bent over backwards to accommodate them.
“He has forgotten about the Protestant people.
“This is probably a step forward in the peace process in the (British) government’s eyes but I don’t think there will ever be peace.”
Asked how she felt about the prospect of a united Ireland, Mrs Smith replied: “Sick”.
