It is time for Sinn Fein and the Ulster Unionist Party to take hard decisions and put an end to their "miserable dispute" over decommissioning and devolution, the SDLP deputy leader, Mr Seamus Mallon, said at the start of his party's 29th annual conference.
As the Mitchell review draws to a conclusion, Mr Mallon said, everyone in political leadership faced enormous challenges in the coming days. The SDLP was ready for that challenge and in an implicit reference to Sinn Fein and the UUP he said he hoped other political leaders would also meet their responsibilities.
"Political agreement will ultimately only come through hard choices and hard decisions on the fundamental issues," he told delegates in Belfast last night.
"The time will never be more right. The circumstances never better. The needs of the moment never more pressing," added Mr Mallon.
"This must be done soon. The well of credibility in the political process is almost dry. Sooner rather than later the agonising must end and the taking of hard decisions begin. That is what the people demand," he said.
Mr Mallon said the influence of Senator George Mitchell, Gen John de Chastelain's decommissioning body, President Clinton, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, should not be underestimated, but ultimately it was for the parties in Northern Ireland to resolve the difficulties.
Mr Mallon used his speech to make direct appeals to Sinn Fein and the UUP. He urged republicans to have faith in the collective ability to achieve change "through the new politics".
"Never before have circumstances been so favourable. They may never be so favourable again. You know that the peace process depends on courage and creativity and not on the dead hand of dogma. I urge you to use courage and creativity and to seize the present chance of success for all the people of Ireland."
Addressing unionists, he said: "The agreement embraces all of us, whatever our religion, whatever our politics. Recognise that it allows us to acknowledge each other's fears, to accept each other's rights.
"We know each other. Together we can deliver this. Together we can make it work. Together we can give the next generation, your children and mine, hope and real prospects. We belong together. We sink or swim together."
Mr Mallon said unionist judgment should not be clouded by those who played on their fears. Those who opposed the agreement learned they could not sweep aside the will of the majority. "Think through what is in the best interests of your family, your community. Look beyond the stress and distress of immediate issues to your long-term future. Make sure that the agreement is implemented in full."
He said everyone had a duty of accountability to himself or herself but also to each other as nationalists and unionists.
"If we make this agreement work, future generations will thank us that when it mattered we stood together, as unionist and nationalist, neighbour alongside neighbour, and saw it through for the common good."
Mr Mallon said prevarication had reigned since the signing of the Belfast Agreement 18 months ago, but the time for decision must surely come soon. It was time for politicians to redeem their reputation and to "respect the will of the people, the will of the world, the will of history".
He concluded: "I have said many times before that we as a society have been given a chance which rarely comes along - to write our own page of history. Let us ensure that we take it and take it soon."
