The UVF will be afforded the same scrutiny given to the IRA after its weapons move, writes Brian Rowan

Senior members of the PUP, including Dawn Purvis and Billy Hutchinson, at a press conference where the UVF and RHC revealed details of the dismantling of their weapons JUSTIN KERNOGHAN

Harry is one of those loyalists known on the Shankill and in the paramilitary world but not on the public stage.

I know his surname but have chosen not to use it. It is not important.

What is important is his rank — or his place within loyalism.

He is commander of the UVF’s 1st battalion — and those stripes gave weight to the words that had to be spoken at the weekend, words that confirmed what we already knew.

It was Harry’s job to read the statement from the UVF-Red Hand Commando leadership — what is called the command staff.

The thinking behind this type of presentation is not hard to work out — if it is good enough for Harry in his rank and role then it should be good enough for everyone within the organisation.

It helps to manage the process.

At its time of decommissioning the IRA had Brian Keenan — seen as a hawk in the war but absolutely crucial to the peace.

In the way these things work — whether it is republican or loyalist, a voice is used that is hard to argue against.

Other significant UVF figures were given cameo roles in Saturday’s performance — with Dawn Purvis tasked with the political presentation.

I watched from the outside in — uninvited supposedly for being too negative and too questioning when the UVF issued its endgame statement two years ago.

That questioning was about guns and the UVF’s failure to decommission at that time.

My hunch is this is not the real reason why I would not have been welcome on Saturday.

It probably has much more to do with reporting that the UVF’s most senior leader was registered with the Special Branch as a Covert Human Intelligence Source — as an informer or agent.

Saturday’s announcement on disarmament told us what this newspaper had revealed in a series of detailed reports, including the extent of decommissioning.

The story had been put together in a jigsaw of information provided by a number of well-placed sources — paramilitary, political and police.

There was nothing significantly new in Saturday’s UVF statement — in that reading by Harry.

Loyalists will now be able to enjoy the sunshine of decommissioning but only for a little while.

We all know what happened after the IRA put its weapons beyond use in September 2005.

There were questions about how complete or total that process was, and then the focus of reports by the Independent Monitoring Commission moved to the IRA’s structure and continuing activities.

The loyalists can expect the same kind of scrutiny.

Yes, this arms move has all the appearance of something very significant.

Yes, it is an important contribution to the peace — particularly at a time when the dissident republican threat is assessed at its most serious.

Yes, what happened and what was ordered demonstrated leadership — real leadership, particularly on the part of the UVF and Red Hand Commando.

Yes, as Rev Good has commented elsewhere in this newspaper, it confirms that the war is over.

And, yes, that is good news for us all — for people inside and outside the loyalist community.

But, there is still unfinished business — and more still to happen in Harry’s Game.