Dr John Reid is upbeat about the North's political health and institutionsas he prepares for his imminent wedding, writes Dan Keenan,Northern News Editor
The Belfast Agreement is now being implemented in all its aspects, the new institutions are settling down, the centre ground is broadening and political achievements which some said five years ago were "utterly impossible" are now taken for granted. That's the upbeat assessment of the North's political health by the Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid.
Thirteen months into the job, he can prepare for his imminent wedding safe in the knowledge that on the day of the ceremony Northern Ireland is unlikely to impinge on his celebrations.
Like John Hume and his "single transferable speech", John Reid, too, has his favoured lines. Those lines concentrate on the fact that since his sudden arrival in Belfast after the equally sudden departure of Peter Mandelson, he can point to what he calls "three huge objectives".
"One is the establishment of the Assembly on a firmer footing, one was a historic act of decommissioning and another was to get - in its own way historic - cross-community support for policing for the first time.
"Alongside those, we were then able to reduce the military presence further, to introduce another massive reform programme to the criminal justice system, and I think that when you can complete that over a 12-month period it is a sign for the future."
As if nodding in the direction of Sinn Féin critics who have yet to sign up to the new policing arrangements, he insists that every aspect of the agreement is now operational and that they all have to be part of "a continuing process of change".
Fresh from a lengthy meeting with Gerry Adams, Dr Reid told The Irish Times the emphasis lay in creating a climate of change.
"We have started the reforms in policing. But there is a long way to go before we carry these reforms out, before we get the proportions of the two communities we would like to see in the Police Service. We have embarked on a huge modernisation of our criminal justice programme, on equal rights and on human rights. But we want to go beyond just legislating for them and make them part of the culture."
Progress, process and stability are key words on the Reid agenda. Together they encourage normalisation for the people of the North and create for the British government the opportunity to return greater powers to Stormont. He is unequivocal in his belief that security and justice powers will be devolved in the foreseeable future.
IRA decommissioning not only enhances the political climate, it helps to enable loyalist decommissioning and fosters greater demilitarisation by the British army.
The "Reid process" is designed to be inclusive and its objective is to reassure - not alienate. He repeatedly draws comfort from the relative decrease in loyalist violence in the weeks since the riots which scarred north Belfast in January and the murder of Danny McColgan.
He welcomes the indications that loyalist representatives allied with the UDA, UVF and Red Hand Commando are making new efforts at politics following internal turmoil.
There are hints that the UDA ceasefire, dismissed as bogus last autumn, will be reviewed soon. He wants not just a cessation of violence, but active political involvement too and believes all sections of Northern Ireland should be "part of the process" and "should feel part of the ownership of it".
As he sets out his beliefs there are echoes of his two predecessors - the Mandelson clarity of purpose and Mo Mowlam's touchy-feely concerns for all parties to "feel involved".
These, allied with a Glaswegian gutsy comprehension of sectarianism and a what-you-see-is-what-you-get personal style (both very non-New Labour) give a flavour of Reid the politician and Reid the man.
He can be surprisingly up-front on sensitive issues - he has no fresh indications of a new act of IRA decommissioning, he will not back Assembly calls for the closure of Sellafield, he is doing what he can to assist the Barron inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings - and yet remains coy on others.
He accepts the police need government help to clamp down on the type of rioting witnessed in north Belfast and on the emergence of paramilitary organised crime.
He says the only way to enhance police service levels is to recruit more trainees. The long-term future of the full-time police reserve, which Patten recommended be scrapped, he is content to leave to the Policing Board after assessment from the Chief Constable. That Policing Board, he believes, "has risen to the task magnificently".
He speaks earnestly, with the tone of a man who owes a favour or two to the 19 people on the board who, against the odds, engineered agreement on the police crest, the Omagh inquiry and the retirement of Sir Ronnie Flanagan - saving him much grief in the process.
Acknowledging the key political territory which policing occupies, he attempts to put the facts in context.
"It isn't easy. The police service is going through probably the biggest transformation of any organisation, public or private, in western Europe in the middle of very difficult civil disturbances and in the midst of huge political controversy."
Dr Reid has made the "cold place for unionists" remarks a hallmark of his tenure so far. He insists he was issuing a warning that the North must not become a "cold place", and not suggesting it already was such.
It's a theme he's happy to revisit, if only to emphasise that the key to "warming up" Northern Ireland lies with the people there and nowhere else.
"The people who can reassure one community best are actually the people in the other community. So we need both sides to constantly reassure the other that whatever differences they have, we now will attempt to resolve them by politics.
"I think that is happening a little more now than it was perhaps last year."