Reaction: Irish and British officials are to organise "stocktaking" talks with Northern political parties in the run-up to Christmas before January's crucial Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) report.
However, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern and Northern Secretary Peter Hain cautioned against any hopes of speedy movement despite the IRA's decommissioning last month.
"We are not, as it were, signalling early intensive political negotiations which probably won't arise until after the IMC report in January. This is a stock-taking exercise so that we know where everyone is," said Mr Hain.
Mr Ahern and Mr Hain yesterday met in Dublin for talks under the British-Irish Inter-Governmental Conference which allows the governments to review the political and economic issues.
Defending his decision to restore Sinn Féin's Assembly allowances, despite a specific recommendation to the contrary from the IMC, Mr Hain said he would also recommend shortly that the party qualify for House of Commons entitlements.
The IMC is "independent, and gives advice", Mr Hain told an Iveagh House press conference. "It doesn't have the kind of evidence that goes before the courts, but, in the end, it makes its reports to governments. It is for the politicians to make decisions."
The latest IMC report only had the opportunity to examine the conduct of the IRA for little more than a month after the organisation announced on July 28th its intention to stand down entirely.
However, both men acknowledged the importance of the IMC's next report in January.
"I think it will [be vital] if it gives a clean bill of health, but it is all predicated upon whether or not the report can give that clean bill of health. If it does, you would expect at that stage that there would be real political dialogue," said Mr Ahern following talks with Mr Hain and Department of Foreign Affairs and Northern Ireland Office officials.
Mr Hain agreed. "It is an absolutely critical benchmark of where we are. It is clear that the signs are encouraging, but people, understandably, are sceptical. We, the governments, want to be certain that the promises made are kept."
Although one of the IRA's punishment beatings took place after the IRA's July 28th statement, Mr Hain said that attack "must be set against a whole period of encouraging progress".
"The McCartney murder, horrific though it was, and the Northern Bank robbery, horrible though it was, are in a period where there has been a sea-change since then. That is confirmed by the IMC."
Questioned about the British decision to bow to the DUP's demands for extra seats on the NI Policing Board, Mr Ahern sought to play down the differences between Dublin and London. "Circumstances have changed. I very much welcome the commitments that [Mr Hain] has given us that any changes that are made to the Policing Board will not be done in such a way that they will bring an imbalance to the situation."
The Government strongly opposed pre-summer efforts by the DUP to get extra places on the board. Britain finally bowed last week to its demands, granting it five places on the 19-strong body.
Meanwhile, unionists have given the IMC report a chilly response and deplored Mr Hain's decision to restore Sinn Féin's annual Assembly allowances. As well as restoring the allowance, worth £120,000 (€176,600), he recommended Sinn Féin get back its Westminster payments, worth £439,000 (€646,300) a year.
DUP leader Ian Paisley said the decision was "outrageous and demeans the very name of parliament". It would cripple unionist confidence "to see the IRA rewarded for doing nothing," he said.
The DUP MP for North Belfast, Nigel Dodds, said the report did nothing to prove the true intentions of the IRA. "The IRA have proven in the past that they can tactically turn their violence off and on. It is clear that the Provisional IRA has much, much more to do to prove that it really has given up all forms of terror and criminality for good," he said.
"One month in a terrorist campaign of over 35 years is a mere drop in the ocean," he said.
The Sinn Féin MP for Newry and Armagh, Conor Murphy, said the IRA had fulfilled all of the commitments made in its July 28th statement in ending its armed campaign. "They have addressed unionist concerns and removed any further excuse for non-engagement," he said.
"The DUP must now decide if they want to come on board the peace process and the two governments must urgently address the full implementation of the Good Friday agreement, including the early restoration of the political institutions."
SDLP leader Mark Durkan said the report painted "an encouraging picture of the IRA - and a damning one of loyalists".
"However, we share the IMC's concern that there have been continued cases of extortion and intimidation. For so long as the Provisional movement does not accept the rule of law and policing, those engaged in these activities are effectively protected," he added.
The Ulster Unionist Assembly deputy leader Danny Kennedy condemned the restoration of Sinn Féin's Assembly allowances and said unionism remained to be convinced of the IRA's commitment to exclusively peaceful and democratic means.
He called for the dismantling "of the republican movement's criminal empire"
