Hard Gospel Urges Paramilitary Group to Clarify Position on Arms

The Director of the Church of Ireland's Hard Gospel Project, the Rev Earl Storey, has given a cautious welcome to the announcement last week from a Northern Irish paramilitary group that it will renounce violence.

The Ulster Volunteer Force, a pro-British Protestant organisation, said last week that it was putting arms "beyond reach" and stopping military training. It also said it would "assume a non military, civilianised role".

Rev Storey said that the UVF's decision to stand down represented "significant progress and an important step on a journey" for the organisation but said that its stance on weapons was still "simply not good enough" in a community underpinned by the rule of law.