Carl Tyler's Blog

1 - Do you think the timing of this has been hastened by the London bombings? I'm wondering whether it might be the case that the IRA is opportunistically seizing the moment to gain maximum political advantage by saying "we are not al qaeda, we are not the enemy" at a time when the British public most wants to hear some good news.

2 - Personally I don't the London bombers drove this. I think 9/11 probably had more to do with this than any other action taken in the last few years. 9/11 made a serious dent in IRA fund raising efforts in the US, and with the US finally recognizing them as a terrorist organization and closing down many fund raising groups and even radio stations it has all put pressure on the IRA that guns are not the way.

To be very honest I still beleive Bill Clinton helped this peace process move forward more than anything else. For years the British Goverment took the stance "we do not discuss/negotiate with terrorists", where as Bill Clinton believed that dialog was important between the IRA and the British Government. Clinton took a gutsy move and allowed Gerry Adams to enter the US on a visa, whilst this snubbed the British government I think it was the first step to today's announcement.

3 - I definitely agree with your assessment re Clinton and 9/11 putting things into motion. Hadn't really thought about the funding angle much, but of course that's hugely important. I can't help thinking though, that there's an element of seizing the moment created by the 7/7 and 7/21 events that might perhaps have made it happen a little sooner than it would have otherwise. I read a little bit of UK press and blogs, but not enough to know whether anyone else is thinking along these lines.