Two clergymen who witnessed the decommissioning of IRA weapons will be honoured this week for their role in the key chapter of the Northern Ireland peace process. Rev Harold Good and Father Alec Reid are to receive honorary degrees at Queen’s University Belfast’s Centenary graduation ceremonies on Thursday.
In 2005 Rev Good and Fr Reid witnessed the secret destruction of the Provisional IRA’s arsenal. According to Fr Reid, the IRA's final decommissioning acts occurred at "nine different places", over "nine days".
Fr Reid is associated with Clonard Monastery on the Falls Road from where he forged a close relationship with Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams. The Tipperary-born priest was a key backstage conduit between republicans and the Government during the crucial early years of the peace process.
The priest once famously recalled how an armed IRA member present for the decommissioning act handed over his assault rifle which Fr Reid said became the last weapon to be ‘put beyond use’.
“The man handed it over and got quite emotional,” said Fr Reid. “He was aware that this was the last gun.”
Rev Good is a former president of the Methodist Church.
He later said of the decommissioning episode: “At that time I was very much aware of those who had genuine doubts as well as those who, for their own predictable and political reasons, sought to undermine the validity of our statement.
“However, all of that was totally eclipsed by the overwhelming amount of appreciation and affirmation from across our divided community.
“Since that time, not one IRA bullet has been fired and there is growing confidence in what we declared to be a fact, even by those who expressed misgivings at the time.”
An honorary degree will also be conferred on Man Booker prize winning Irish novelist Anne Enright, while Dr Hugh Brady, President of University College Dublin, and Dr John Hegarty, Provost of Trinity College Dublin, will receive honorary doctorates.
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