A group of dissenters

See those Presbyterians ...... ;)

From the alleged statement

"During the Eighties huge amounts of weapons were smuggled into Ireland for the purpose of intensifying the war in the six counties, mainland UK and in Europe"

Mainland UK? Did any of them claim to be from Londonderry?

I don't see how anyone could read that statement and believe it came from republicans. I'll be kind and assume someone made a fool of McDonald.

The same story is running in the Sindo.

Several anomalies, not least the one pointed out by Henry.

It seems to me that the "rumour mills" are working overtime. I find this type of journalism very dangerous and irresponsible at this delicate stage.

Who gains from this type of speculation ?

Sunday Business Post says it too has heard from the potential breakaways ...
The Provisional IRA, meanwhile, is believed to be facing internal dissent over the pending final act of decommissioning.

A group of disaffected activists is expected to resign, including activists from brigades in east Tyrone, south Derry, north Louth and south Down.

They represent a minority of the mainstream republican movement, numbering somewhere between 50 and 100 activists.

But this newspaper understands that they include senior figures in the IRA hierarchy notably four people from the 12-member army executive, as well as the IRA quartermaster general.

In a statement to this paper, the disaffected IRA members, claiming to represent the views of border brigades, said: “The army was deeply divided in the aftermath of the notorious '97 [IRA] convention which resulted in the resignations of key military personnel.Today we stand on the brink of another serious split.

“Decommissioning, secret or otherwise, is the surrender of modern day IRA,and as volunteers we oppose it and call on volunteers across Ireland to oppose it.”

The last paragraph says it all about this particular story. The writer simply doesn't know who he was dealing with. So we are expected to believe a story from anonymous sources from a journalist with no history of contact with the mainstream republican movement. Says it all really.

Another SBP article : Arms issue may split IRA