July 28th 2005; The IRA has formally ordered an end to its armed campaign and says it will pursue exclusively peaceful means. In a long-awaited statement, the republican organisation said it would follow a democratic path ending more than 30 years of violence.

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said the move was a "courageous and confident initiative" and that the moment must be seized. Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was a "step of unparalleled magnitude". "It is what we have striven for and worked for throughout the eight years since the Good Friday Agreement," he said.