Shifts may herald the dying throes of terrorism

As inhabitants of the island of Ireland, North and South, recoil in shock and disbelief at the bomb blast in Omagh, already the focus has begun to shift from the sheer scale of the horror to the capture of the murderers.

The Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister, and senior Government officials with responsibility for security on both sides of the Border, have met to discuss the political imperatives, while the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, and the RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, have discussed the security implications of such naked terrorism.

In the midst of all the tragedy, scarcely enough significance has been placed on the demonstrable shift within Sinn Fein in the aftermath of the Omagh bombing, and by implication, within the Provisional IRA.

Victims and commentators alike have struggled in vain, in the past, to extract some level of condemnation for atrocities, such as those witnessed in Enniskillen, from the republican leadership. The fact that the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, has now chosen to use words of condemnation, rather than mere regret, marks a new epoch within republican thinking.

The fact, also, that Northern Ireland's First Minister and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Mr David Trimble, has not turned his primary focus on the broader republican movement is also of significance, given that preliminary intelligence from the security forces points towards the self-styled "Real IRA".

Remarkable and unexpected shifts within the hearts and minds of the main protagonists in Northern Ireland appear evident and may herald a real hope that what our island is now suffering is in fact the dying throes of terrorism.

To ensure that the documented wishes of the overwhelming majority will be realised, it is critical that all obstacles to this achievement are removed and, in the words of the Taoiseach, crushed without equivocation.

Terrorists, by their very nature, do not recognise constraints of a constitutional nature such as what they perceive as an artificial Border, and this has allowed them an indeterminable advantage in their various campaigns in the past.

With due deference to present political realities, the time may now be opportune for a similar approach by those charged with counteracting this threat. The feasibility of joint policing of a clearly defined and agreed corridor of operations should now merit consideration. The primacy of achieving peace and harmony on this island supersedes all other considerations, including national sovereignty.

While relations between Mr Byrne and Mr Flanagan are known to be good, the ongoing correlation of security information is reported to be somewhat sporadic and, notwithstanding the fact that liaison officers have been appointed, operational interaction is deemed to be haphazard.

Sources indicate that, despite the fact that fixed and mobile Garda facilities have been enhanced to accommodate ongoing interaction, it is only on rare occasions that the RUC and gardai operate in absolute unison and then, of necessity, within their respective areas of jurisdiction.

The Patten Commission set up under the Good Friday Agreement to make recommendations for future policing arrangements in Northern Ireland will, within its terms of reference, seek to ensure that "the scope for structured co-operation with the Garda Siochana is addressed".

A further by-product of a joint policing strategy, apart from its chilling message to terrorists, should also be the gradual erosion of the mistrust of what the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee referred to as "a significant minority of people [who] traditionally see the RUC as being representative of an alien regime to which they hold no allegiance". This mistrust must be broken down if terrorism is to be defeated.

Hand in glove with innovative policing measures should be a review of terrorist legislation. The provisions of the Offences Against the State Act have been brought to bear against members of unlawful organisations since its inception in 1937, and these specified illegal organisations have been proscribed by statute. With the apparent movement of mainstream republicanism towards a more political phase, it can be anticipated that a profusion of splintering will occur.

Perhaps legislators in the Republic should consider the enactment of a similar law to that in Britain which caters for the "promotion of terrorism". This may obviate the necessity of continually updating the list of proscribed organisations which presently rely on the oxygen of reincarnation under a new name.

These are some of the measures requiring calm consideration at this time and in an atmosphere of absolute dispassion.

Chris Finnegan, a former general secretary of the Garda Federation, is a freelance journalist