A Historical Day

Last Thursday the IRA made an announcement unlike any they made before:

The leadership of Oglaigh na hEireann has formally ordered an end to the armed campaign. All IRA units have been ordered to dump arms. All volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programmes through exclusively peaceful means. Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever.

IRA statement, 28 July 2005

A comprehensive history can be found on the BBC's site focusing on the issue.