Northern Ireland is on the cusp of witnessing a final accommodation between unionists and nationalists, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has said.
Speaking after a meeting with the Taoiseach and two senior Government ministers in Dublin today, Mr Adams said he believed a settlement in the North involving all parties was imminent.
"We believe that we are all on the cusp of a future which allows those of us who want to, to see democratic and peaceful structures in place," Mr Adams said.
"Those of us who want to see equality right across the island and those of us who want to see an accommodation between unionists and the rest of us, we are on the cusp of that happening in the wake of the IRA putting its arms beyond use," he said.
Mr Adams met with the Taoiseach, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell.
The visit of the Sinn Féin delegation - which also included chief negotiator Martin McGuinness - in what is being viewed as a signal from Dublin accepting that the provisional movement is coming in from the cold.
Mr Adams, with Kerry TD Martin Ferris, briefed IRA inmates in Castlerea Prison earlier in the week on "peace process developments".
Gerry Adams
Mr Adams told senior party members in Armagh last night that the public and even republicans have not fully absorbed how significant the July IRA statement pledging to end its armed campaign and decommission was.
He said the IRA, to whom he regularly referred as "the army", would deliver on its July pledges, and that this could prove difficult for republicans.
Mr Adams is meeting the Taoiseach, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, in what is viewed as a signal from Dublin accepting that the provisional movement is coming in from the cold.
On arriving for today's meeting at Government buildings, Mr Adams said that he wasn't going to speculate about the timing of IRA decommissioning but that he was satisfied that the IRA would honour its commitment.
"I suppose like everybody else we're waiting for the IRA to do what most people understandably haven't absorbed the importance of, which is to follow through on the formal ending of this campaign which is going to put weapons beyond use. We're here to talk about the entire process and also to talk about what the two governments and the other parties have to do in the time ahead," said Adams.
Calling the IRA's move 'historical' he added, "the word historical has been devalued and when I say that people including the media and politicians haven't yet absorbed the import of the IRA's move, I think that's understandable. What the IRA has done is to formally end its armed campaign and pledged to work with the De Chastelain commission to put its arms beyond use.
"We're about taking all the guns out of Irish politics, not just the Republican ones. But I think the IRA has shown great leadership in what it is doing and that opens up all kinds of possibilites for those of us who are involved in politics to continue with the Good Friday agreement, to get it bedded down and then to move on to build the society which the people of this island deserve," he added.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin confirmation that its chief negotiator Martin McGuinness is travelling to Washington on Tuesday has further intensified speculation that IRA disarmament is imminent and could come as soon as next Wednesday.
On the day before the IRA statement at the end of July, Mr McGuinness also travelled to Washington to be in a position to promote to senior US politicians and to Irish-America the importance of the IRA announcement.
This is seen as just part of a series of events in which Sinn Féin is priming the public and more importantly the republican base for decommissioning. Mr Adams is to deliver a keynote speech in Dublin tomorrow at his party's "Rally for Irish Unity" in Dublin.