THE IRA has held a convention in the past two weeks where the strategy of the current leadership received complete endorsement, sources close to the peace process have told The Irish Times.
It took place on November 1st at a location on the east coast, sources said, and not in Co Mayo as reported elsewhere. Garda sources insist, however, that no such convention took place.
Peace process sources said there had been concern on the more moderate wing of the republican movement that the convention might prove a setback for the Army Council which called the ceasefire of August 1994, which collapsed in February this year. In the event, the outcome was "a positive one"; the same Army Council remained in place and its strategy of seeking a negotiated settlement was approved.
The convention is being interpreted as a "big boost" for the approach of the Sinn Fein leaders, Mr Gerry Adams and Mr Martin McGuinness, who are said to be in a position to "deliver" a ceasefire if peace terms can be agreed with the British government.