Sir, - With reference to IRA and other paramilitary weapons, Irish politicians and journalists use the word "decommission" as if it meant "hand over". But to decommission weapons, ships aeroplanes, does not mean to hand them over; neither does it mean to destroy them. Consult any good dictionary, ask any authority on military affairs.
The fact is that, when the IRA, at the start of its long ceasefire collected its weapons and stored them in bunkers in protective wrappings, it decommissioned them.
It seems that our politicians and journalists use "decommission" to mean "hand over", simply because British politicians, since the start of the affair, have misused the word in this manner. Hardly a sufficient reason. Why say "decommission" when that is not what is meant? Peace making isn't furthered by frivolity with language. - Yours, etc..
Portobello,
Dublin 8.