After patrolling the urban streets and countryside of Northern Ireland for a generation, the British army will effectively withdraw from the province within two years, Britain's Northern Ireland secretary said on Monday.
Roman Catholic and Protestant politicians respectively welcomed and condemned the move, highlighting differences that could make it impossible for parties to cooperate in Northern Ireland's local government.
The decision, announced in Belfast by the secretary, Peter Hain, comes in response to a statement by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) last Thursday announcing an end to its 36-year guerrilla war against Britain.
Addressing concerns from unionists, who are predominantly Protestant and want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, Hain said that his "first and over-riding priority" is "the safety and security of the people of Northern Ireland," adding, "We will not do anything that will compromise that."
His words did little to assuage the fury of people who feel that any concessions to the IRA are premature until the group fully disarms, or, as many unionists demand, that it dissolve itself entirely.
The plan for demilitarization "is a surrender to the IRA, and is further evidence of bad faith on the part of the government," Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionists, the hard-line Protestant party that is Northern Ireland's largest political group, said outside the provincial legislature. He called the decision "dishonest and dangerous" and "a scandalous betrayal," and threatened to boycott talks aimed at restarting the legislature, which was set up in 1998 to share power between Protestant and Catholic parties, but has barely functioned since.
"Whilst we have no control over many decisions that the government takes, we do have a veto on the return of devolution," Paisley said, referring to local government. "We alone will dictate when we enter into negotiations."
Republicans, who are predominantly Catholic and want Northern Ireland to join the Irish Republic, celebrated the plan as a long-overdue step toward normalizing daily life, and toward the end of what they consider to be Britain's military occupation.
"It is for all our benefit, unionists as well as nationalists and republicans," said Conor Murphy, Sinn Fein's representative for Armagh, the rural area on the border with the Irish Republic that is home to many army installations. "I have to ask, who wants to live in a militarized society?"
The process, which began with the dismantling of two watchtowers and a military base last week, will remove the hulking army bases and heavily fortified police stations that loom over tiny main streets in Northern Irish towns.
The army's armored tanks will no longer rumble through city neighborhoods, and helicopters, loathed by country dwellers as noisy and intrusive, will no longer shatter the tranquility of rural areas. The 10,500 soldiers and 3,500 civilians working at 40 military locations will dwindle to 5,000 soldiers at 14 sites, and three battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment will be disbanded entirely.
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