THE surest way of ensuring a peaceful settlement in Northern Ireland is for people to focus on the future rather than dwell on the past, Senator George Mitchell urged yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference in the Europa Hotel in Belfast to mark the publication of the international body's report, he said he would shortly brief President Clinton about it.
One of his two colleagues on the body, Mr Harri Holkeri, said true peace only could be achieved through the building of trust and a change in current "mind sets".
Senator Mitchell said he and his colleagues approached their task with a sense of urgency because that was what the situation required.
"We do not believe that our report by itself will achieve an agreed settlement in Northern Ireland. We do believe that it can contribute to the process by which that goal can be achieved," he said.
"We acted throughout this process with complete independence. We reached our conclusions without bias or prejudice, without fear or favour... The conclusions we set out in this report are ours, and ours alone."
Senator Mitchell said that while the issue of decommissioning may be segregated in theory, in reality in the North it was interwoven with many ether issues and much history. "Nonetheless, we believe we have met our man date in a fair and balanced way."
Mr Holkeri, the former Finnish prime minister, said he hoped the report would help move the peace process forward. He and his colleagues had no magic formula. A true solution must come from "the minds of the people".
"What is really needed is a decommissioning of mind sets in Northern Ireland."
He added that in their deliberations the members of the body had felt the "pain that lives in so many hearts here".
The paramilitary cease fires were an essential element in the current expectation for peace and deserved true recognition, he said. There was a lack of trust on all sides. "The peace process will have to be a long road of building trust between people.
"From those close to the paramilitary organisations we heard the following `We do not trust but we are prepared to try. We believe these words."
In their considerations they had found almost universal support for the objective of total and verifiable paramilitary disarmament, and that must continue to be the "paramount objective
General John de Chastelain, in his introductory remarks, focused on the guidelines for decommissioning.
Senator Mitchell concluded his remarks by again quoting the report urging politicians and people to take risks for peace.
He did not accept that because the commission did not accept the British principle that there must be decommissioning before talks, the report was therefore embarrassing for the British government
The senator praised the British Prime Minister, Mr John Major, the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, and the former Taoiseach, Mr Albert Reynolds, for their courage in helping bring the process to this stage.