The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning is referred by many names - the IICD, "the decommissioning body" and "the de Chastelain commission" - in a bid to simplify its complex name and nature.
This four-year-old institution, one of the precursors to the Belfast Agreement, has come into sharp focus in the latest crisis to affect the peace process.
It was conceived in 1996 when the joint chairmen of the international body on arms decommissioning recommended the establishment of an independent commission to specifically address the decommissioning issue. The following year the two governments enacted relevant legislation and in September 1997 it set to work, a month after the second IRA ceasefire.
In 1998 under the terms of the Belfast Agreement all parties reaffirmed their commitment to the "total disarmament" of all paramilitary organisations. Decommissioning was to be completed within two years of the referenda on the agreement.
This was included in the agreement as: "The participants confirm their intention to continue to work constructively and in good faith with the Independent Commission and to use any influence they may have to achieve the decommissioning of all paramilitary arms within two years following endorsement in referendums North and South of the agreement and in the context of the implementation of the overall settlement." The original deadline was to expire on May 22nd last year.
Since the Agreement was signed the IICD has submitted up to 10 reports to the two governments about the laborious process of decommissioning; the meetings with paramilitary representatives; and the inspections of weapons dumps by the independent arms inspectors Mr Cyril Ramaphosa and Mr Martti Ahtisaari.
One of the earlier reports, in November 1999, stated that "while decommissioning is an essential element of the agreement, our discussions over the past year and a half convince us that the context in which it can be achieved is the overall implementation of that agreement. All participants have a collective responsibility in this regard."
Later that month the IRA issued a statement saying it would appoint a representative to enter discussions with the IICD and the following month it announced that it had made the appointment, now believed to be the Belfast republican Brian Keenan.
In January 2000, the IICD reported that while the IRA, UFF and UVF had had discussions with the commission, "to date we have received no information from the IRA as to when decommissioning will start". In February 2000 the institutions were suspended and the IRA withdrew from co-operation with the de Chastelain commission amid claims that it had been about to offer a breakthrough deal.
The following month David Trimble survived an Ulster Unionist leadership challenge and by May a deal had been reached which brought about the restoration of the institutions and the beginning of a process for putting weapons beyond use. Through the crises of the past two years the IICD kept working in the background. Between March and May of this year it had four meetings with the IRA's representative.
Since then there have been further detailed negotiations with the IRA. These led to the eventual statement by Gen de Chastelain yesterday that proposals had been agreed.
The Northern Ireland Office yesterday published details of a more flexible scheme than the one established in 1998. The IICD requested the additional flexibility on how the weapons could be put beyond use permanently.
The weapons are to be "permanently unusable and permanently unavailable" but the scheme changes the emphasis from "decommissioning" to putting the weapons beyond use.
The detailed three-page scheme of regulations reflect similar ones to be placed in the Oireachtas library at Leinster House today. The Taoiseach yesterday reiterated that Gen de Chastelain had the final word on whether weapons were put beyond use or not, and all parties had agreed to that.