On Tuesday the IRA announced it had put a substantial number of its weapons beyond use, so removing the major obstacle to the implementation of the Good Friday peace agreement (see leading article). Two figures committed to the Irish peace process give their reactions.

The statement of the IRA that it has implemented the scheme agreed with the de Chastelain Commission in order to demonstrate that its weapons were beyond use is very positive. The wording of this statement has underlined its commitment to the peace process: Our motivation is clear. This unprecedented move is to save the peace process is to persuade others of our genuine intention.

David Trimble?s response was also positive and I hope that his party will now accept his proposal that they return to the Executive, so that all the institutions are in place and our elected representatives can fully engage in working together in our common interests ? that is, on real politics ? and by doing so begin the real healing process. Respecting our differences and working together is central to lasting peace and stability, and to a lasting solution to our problems. By so doing we will break down the barriers of centuries and erode the distrust and prejudice of the past, replacing them with trust and with new and positive relationships.

Central to that healing process is, of course, the socio-economic de-velopment of our community, the substantial common ground. The more success that we have in developing our economy, the more we will give real hope to our young people that they can earn a living in the land of their birth and will not, like many of their predecessors, be either emigrants or unemployed.

An important element in working the common ground, of course, will be our work in developing our links with our international friends. As I know from my experience, their goodwill and support for our peace process are very strong. Our task therefore is to develop these links in order to achieve substantial inward investment and the marketing of the products of our local industries.

The pursuit of our common interests through addressing our economic and social problems will be vital to the future wellbeing and stability of our society. There is a huge social and economic agenda to keep us all very busy. Industrial and service sector development, the future of agriculture and rural development, the modernisation of the education system, developing our health services, tackling rural and urban deprivation, the modernisation of energy, transport and telecommunications networks are all issues that will need all our common efforts to resolve over future years and decades. Above all, we must ensure that we and especially our young people are living in a decent society and a prosperous economy.

Another important step, of course, is that it is necessary for all the other paramilitary groups holding weapons to engage with the de Chastelain Commission, and to put beyond doubt their commitment to peaceful means. We have come so far since the declaration of ceasefires in 1994. It is now time to show that the process is irreversible through decommissioning of weapons, the demilitarisation of our society and the development of a police service that will have the loyalty and support of our community as a whole.

The commonsense approach to developing such a police service is that it will be governed by a police board which is representative of all sections of our community, and which will therefore take all the necessary steps to ensure that the new police service will have the loyalty of, and membership from, all sections of the community ? in other words, a normal society. For that reason I hope that Sinn Fein will soon decide to join the policing board so that the representatives of all sections of our people are together to develop a normal police service.

The news that decommissioning has begun, and that the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement can be preserved, is obviously very welcome. If the institutions had been brought down, it would have been a major betrayal of the hopes and aspirations of the vast majority of our citizens. Given the overwhelming majority in both parts of the island that endorsed the Agreement, this would have been a massive rejection of the democratic will of the people. We should never forget that for the first time in our history, the people of Ireland, North and South, have spoken as to how they wish to live together by their overwhelming endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement. It is therefore the duty of all true democrats to implement the will of the people. Let us make sure that as we enter the new century and the new millennium we will, in a new Ireland, leave our past of conflict completely behind.

John Hume MEP, who steps down next month as leader of the Social Democratic & Labour Party, is one of the principal architects of the Good Friday Agreement and joint 1998 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

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