Darkest Hour May Be Just Before the Dawn: I.R.A. Agrees to Arms Pact in Move Hailed as Significant. ‘The Irish Republican Army has agreed to a method of destroying its arsenal of weapons that is provable and permanent, the commission responsible for the disarming of paramilitary forces in Northern Ireland said today.

Britain and Ireland termed the statement “significant” and “historic” and said it represented the long-sought breakthrough needed to push forward with the stalled peace accord for the embattled province.’ New York Times