This morning's statement by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) declaring an end to its armed campaign has been given a cautious welcome.
The move was welcomed by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Mr Ahern said the move was "potentially very important and it should be welcomed." Mr Blair said the decision "proves the success of the Northern Ireland peace process."
The UVF statement, which was read out by one of the group's founding members, convicted killer Gusty Spence, said the paramilitary group would "assume a non-military, civilianised role" from midnight tonight.
The statement said: "We have taken the above measures in an earnest attempt to augment the return of accountable democracy to the people of Northern Ireland and, as such, to engender confidence that the constitutional question has now been firmly settled."
Recruitment, military training and targeting have stopped and all its so-called active service units deactivated, the leadership claimed in the statement.
There was a hint of caution however as the body set up to monitor paramilitary disarmament, Gen John de Chastelain's Independent International Commission on Decommission (IICD), expressed concerns that the move does not meet the requirements of decommissioning legislation.
The UVF statement said it has addressed the methodology of transforming from a military to civilian organisation by "implementing a series of measures in every operational and command area."
Recruitment, military training and targeting have ceased, and all intelligence rendered obsolete, it said.
However, a spokesperson for the IICD said: "We are concerned by their intention to deal with their arms without the involvement of the IICD.
Without the commission's involvement, their action on arms does not meet the requirement of the decommissioning legislation and the agreement reached by the parties in the Belfast Agreement.
"We are prepared to meet with the UVF representative to discuss how we can work together in dealing with arms."
The Taoiseach echoed the sentiment saying: "Words now need to be borne out with actions and we look forward to their full delivery. We also look forward to further positive engagement by the UVF with the IICD with a view to full decommissioning."
The UVF declared a ceasefire in 1994, just after the IRA's first cessation, as part of the process which led towards the April 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.
But the organisation, which has been responsible for hundreds of murders and some of the worst terrorist atrocities, continued to kill.
The loyalist terrorist group is believed to be responsible for the greatest loss of life in a single day when it planted bombs in Dublin and Monaghan on May 17th, 1974, killing 33 people.
A group of UVF members in Belfast, known as the Shankill Butchers, achieved notoriety during the 1970s with their campaign of abducting Catholics - usually walking home from a night out.
Their victims were tortured and beaten before being killed, usually by having their throats cut. Most of their victims had no connection to the IRA or any other republican groups.
Asked this morning about UVF decommissioning, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said his party had never pushed for decommissioning but that "silenced weapons" was what was important in this "step-by-step process".