By DAVID SHARROCK in Belfast, MARTIN WALKER in Washington and STEPHEN BATES
AN HISTORIC resolution of Northern Ireland╒s bloody Troubles began to emerge last night after the IRA took the dramatic step of ending its 25-year campaign of violence to remove Britain from the island of Ireland.
The IRA╒s initiative opens up the prospect of breaking a cycle of murder which has claimed 3,169 deaths since 1969, and invites comparison with the call of Patrick Pearse, a martyr of the Easter 1916 Uprising, to ╥lay down your arms lest they bring too much suffering on your own people╙.
An unequivocal statement from the IRA leadership said all units had been informed of a ╥complete cessation of military operations╙ from midnight. No conditions were attached.
The announcement brought scenes of wild jubilation in Catholic areas of Belfast, where thousands of supporters converged on Sinn Fein's headquarters, but apprehension and cynicism in loyalist districts, where fresh graffiti said the battle was ╥only beginning╙.
Almost immediately the IRA statement was embroiled in controversy when the Government said it did not go far enough ╤ the clock could not start ticking for Sinn Fein╒s entry into political negotiations until the IRA clarified that its campaign had ended permanently.
The Prime Minister, John Major, said he was greatly encouraged by the IRA announcement, but added that guarantees of permanence were not just a semantic point.
╥What we said in the Joint Declaration was that if violence ended permanently and was then shown to have ended for a period of up to three months, within that three-month period we would begin to discuss with Sinn Fein how they could subsequently join the constitutional talks.
╥So I hope they will make it clear that it is permanent and then we can look at the elapse of that three-month period. The moment I am clear in my mind that this is a permanent end to violence, then the clock starts ticking.╙
Mr Major, after pressing the IRA to make its intentions clear, said that as long as the people of Northern Ireland wished to remain part of the United Kingdom, they would have the Government╒s support.
In spite of the heated debate over the fine print of the IRA╒s announcement, there is a widespread view that a momentous leap forward in resolving Ireland╒s centuries-old conflict has finally been taken.
While the statement does not use the word permanent, it is understood that the IRA has done everything it can to convey that meaning without risking a split within its ranks over charges of having ╥surrendered╙. It is believed that the Government appreciates the delicacy of the situation, and last night╒s calls for clarification may have been for the benefit of Unionist politicians.
The Prime Minister╒s scepticism was not shared in Dublin, where the Irish prime minister, Albert Reynolds, received a standing ovation when he told the Dail that the long nightmare was coming to an end. It was an historic opportunity to ╥take the gun out of Irish politics for ever╙, he said.
Mr Reynolds spoke with Mr Major yesterday and told him he believed the ceasefire announcement was genuine.
The Sinn Fein president, Gerry Adams, who told thousands of supporters at a West Belfast rally that the struggle had moved into a new phase, said there was no confusion. The IRA had said a complete cessation and that was what they meant.
James Molyneaux, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, who met Mr Major in Downing Street yesterday afternoon, said the IRA statement was inadequate. ╥I hope that those who have influence with the IRA will now be able to persuade them to make the next decisive step and make the halt permanent,╙ he said.
Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, said he saw no permanent renunciation of violence in the IRA statement, just a ╥salute to murderers╙.
