Irish National Liberation Army to disband and give up weapons

The Irish National Liberation Army announced today it will begin discussion with General John de Chastelain's disarmament body and move towards decommissioning its guns and bombs. The republican paramilitary group that assassinated the Tory MP and Margaret Thatcher ally Airey Neave is to give up its weapons and pursue purely peaceful politics.

During the Troubles the INLA murdered 113 people including 15 of its own members during several brutal internal feuds in the 80s and 90s. Among its most infamous members was Dominic "Mad Dog" McGlinchey, once Ireland's most wanted men, who led INLA during the mid-80s.

The announcement was made at the Seamus Costello Commemoration in Bray, County Dublin. Costello founded the INLA after a split within the IRA in 1974. Three years later the IRA shot him dead in central Dublin. "The armed struggle is over," the INLA statement said.

The movement's political wing, the Irish Republican Socialist Party, told the graveside gathering that the best way to achieve a united socialist Ireland is "through political, peaceful means".