On Tuesday, ten years to the day after the IRA formally declared an end to its armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland, ordering its units to dump weapons and its members to stand down, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams released a statement in which he again declared:

The reality is that the IRA was never defeated and that again and again it was Irish republicans, including the IRA leadership, which took bold steps to bolster the peace process and to maintain positive political momentum.

On Wednesday, ten years and a day after the IRA formally declared an end to its armed campaign, British soldiers, alongside members of the police, searched homes in Derry as part of an investigation into violent dissident Republican activity.  PSNI Chief Inspector Tony Callaghan said:

There were no arrests – however, a number of items were taken away for further examination. … Due to the suspected presence of munitions or explosives, military specialists were deployed in support of police.

Independent Derry councillor Dermot Quigley told the Belfast Telegraph:

People are disgusted to see the British Army back on the streets of Galliagh and they are livid at the aggressive and hostile response by the police, which flies in the face of the peace process.

British soldiers searching the homes of Irish Republicans. It’s a funny way to mark a decade of victory.