Church Hails UFF Armstice in Northern Ireland

(11 Nov 07 - RV) In Britain thousands of war veterans have marked Remembrance Sunday. In London the commemoration of war dead began with a gun blast and two minutes' silence on Whitehall, while other remembrance events took place in Afghanistan and Iraq.

This year Remembrance Sunday falls exactly 89 years after the ending of World War I, Armistice Day.

Marking the solemn event Northern Ireland's largest Protestant paramilitary group said it would stand down its active units from midnight and put its weaponry beyond use. The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) said in a statement read at a parade in Belfast that all of its active armed service Ulster Freedom Fighter units, would be stood down with all military intelligence destroyed.

Fr Timothy Bartlett is secretary of the Irish bishop’s Commission for justice and peace.

He spoke to us about the significance of this step in the region’s peace process.