The IRA cessation of August 1994

From midnight on Wednesday 31 August 1994 the Irish Republican Army commenced what it described as “a complete cessation of all military operations”. The IRA said it was taking this momentous step “to enhance the democratic peace process and underline our definitive commitment to its success”. 

The peace process had been slowly developing in the previous years, based on the intensive dialogue between Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and SDLP leader John Hume. The engagement of Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Albert Reynolds from his election in 1992 accelerated the process. But it was the IRA cessation which moved the process of conflict resolution and peace-making onto a new plane. 

In its statement the IRA commended its Volunteers and political prisoners, as well as its supporters and said that their courage, determination and sacrifice over 25 years had “demonstrated that the spirit of freedom and the desire for peace based on a just and lasting settlement cannot be crushed. We remember all those who have died for Irish freedom and we reiterate our commitment to our republican objectives”. 

In its editorial the day after the announcement, 1 September 1994, An Phoblacht said: 

“As was emphasised by Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams to the crowd outside Connolly House, the republican struggle is not over. Far from it. A new phase of struggle has been entered. Now, more than ever, the core constitutional issues must be addressed in negotiations and campaigning on the streets”. The editorial stated that a truly just and lasting peace must be based on: 

• A process of national reconciliation. 
• The exercise of national self-determination. 
• The creation of an Irish national democracy. 

“Lá stairiúil é seo do mhuintir na hÉireann” (this is an historic day for the people of Ireland) was how Gerry Adams opened his statement welcoming the IRA cessation. “We must develop an irreversible momentum for change which will move the British government away from the failed policies of the past. John Major must seize the moment”, stated Adams. 

Taoiseach Albert Reynolds described the cessation as “a gigantic step towards peace” and said he believed the IRA statement was “made in good faith and that their strong tradition of discipline will positively contribute to this result”. He also said that immediate steps would be taken to fully recognise Sinn Féin’s electoral mandate. 

In stark contrast was the response of the British Tory Prime Minister John Major. There was no seizing of the moment to move towards a negotiated settlement, no embracing of the opportunity, no recognition of Sinn Féin’s mandate. Instead Major introduced the word ‘permanent’, claiming that its absence from the IRA statement put the cessation in doubt. This, and the demand for surrender of IRA arms, was seized on by Unionists and would be used as obstacles to progress in the months that followed. 

Many of those in the media who had opposed the peace process from the beginning now saw the IRA cessation as a further threat to their cherished status quo. Former Irish Labour Minister Conor Cruise O’Brien, who had become a full-blown Unionist, predicted doom and wrote in the British tabloid, the now defunct News of the World, that the peace process was phase one in the “terrorist godfathers’ masterplan to rule all Ireland”. The article was headlined ‘IRA will march into Dublin’. 

The Section 31 broadcasting ban on Sinn Féin in the 26 Counties had been lifted in January but John Major initially refused to lift the British equivalent. However, with world media attention focussed on the Irish peace process in general and Gerry Adams in particular, the British ban became an acute embarrassment to the British government and was lifted a within a month. 

Across Ireland and globally the response to the IRA cessation was hugely positive. Adams, Hume and Reynolds were credited with the progress made and on 6 September they met at Government Buildings in Dublin to reaffirm their commitment to work together for a just and lasting peace. Their historic handshake on the steps of Government Buildings was one of the defining moments of the process. 

The IRA cessation commenced 30 years ago on 31 August 1994.