President encourages decommissioning for its own sake

The Rev. Donald P Ker, President of the Methodist Church has issued the following Statement in response to the news concerning UDA De-Commissioning:

Last week, along with many others in Northern Ireland and beyond, I warmly welcomed the news that Loyalist paramilitary groups had decommissioned their weapons. It is therefore disappointing to learn that this act of decommissioning has not been completed by all the Loyalist groupings.

The act of decommissioning should not be dependent on either financial return or the release of people convicted and sentenced subsequent to the Good Friday Agreement. It is rather a declaration that arms and ordinances have no further place in Northern Ireland.

I believe that further financial assistance is needed to fund projects in loyalist areas. However, this should not be linked with the act of decommissioning but rather given on the merit of the projects themselves.