Statement by Connor Murphy on the Eleventh Report of the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC), (6 September 2006)

Statement by Connor Murphy, then Sinn Féin MP for Newry and Armagh, on the publication of the Eleventh Report of the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC), (6 September 2006)

"The people who will judge the pace and extent of the dismantling of the British war machine in Ireland are those people in areas like South Armagh who have had to live for years with the effects of the British occupation in their community. People who have lived with the effects of British military occupation do not need reports from John Alderdice to tell them when sufficient progress has been made.

Progress is being made on the issue of demilitarisation because Sinn Féin put it onto the political agenda and because local communities mounted effective campaigns to demand an end to the British military presence in their lives. This has nothing whatever to do with the IMC.

Sinn Féin will continue to raise this issue with the British government to ensure that all of their commitments are met and equally importantly that all occupied land is returned to its rightful owners and we do not see a repeat of the underhand attempt to reoccupy land recently mounted by the PSNI and Policing Board in Crossmaglen."