May 9th, 2000 - Former Finnish president Mr Martti Ahtisaari and senior member of the African National Congress, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, are informed that they have been approved by all Northern parties as the independent international arms inspectors. Their mandate is defined as "inspecting the contents of a number of IRA weapons dumps on a regular basis and reporting back to the Independent International Commission on Decommission (IICD), headed by the Canadian general, John de Chastelain".
June 27th, 2000 - First inspection of a number of IRA arms dumps. Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, describes move as "unprecedented in 200 years of armed struggle".
October 25th, 2000 - IRA announces it will allow further inspection of its arms dumps.
November 3rd, 2000 - Arms inspectors confirm that they have "recently" examined weapons dumps for the second time and express their conviction that the IRA "is serious about the peace process".
May 30th, 2001 - Arms inspectors confirm that they have carried out a third inspection.