This can only be good news. And given that it will surely strengthen the republican position in the current climate, it makes perfect sense for them to do it for real this time.
I've always believed that Gerry Adams; whatever else you may think of him; is the shrewdest politician on these islands. Right now Sinn Féin are gaining a great deal of political ground on both sides of the border, and it is possible that there's a large number of republicans who will vote for them once the IRA are officially a thing of the past giving them yet another large boost in the polls.
The other element of this political strategy (and - to me - the real genius of what Adams and McGuiness are up to) is the fact that Sinn Féin have indeed modernised themselves (or their image, at least) but Ian Paisley's DUP, despite becoming the largest unionist party, have singularly failed to modernise; and will never do so while Paisley himself is alive. The reason for this is because Paisley has defined himself (politically, morally and as a human being) more by what he stands against than what he stands for.
If the IRA genuinely do what they say, it will leave Paisley in the wilderness... reduce him to a more ludicrous a figure than he already is, even as he celebrates his pyrrhic vixtory. And that will end up strengthening the hand of republican politicians.
Leastways, that's how I see it.
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