Sir, - In the light of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland's acceptance of the principal recommendations of the Patten Commission, we note under the terms of the Belfast Agreement that only three substantial matters remain to be fully initiated and completed by its supporters:
(i) the decommissioning of weapons by republican and loyalist paramilitaries;
(ii) the publication and implementation of demilitarisation plans by the UK government;
(iii) the publication and implementation of proposals related to the administration of justice and human rights.
We believe that to sustain the political momentum of the agreement and safeguard the position of the First Minister and the Executive, a voluntary act of decommissioning by republican and loyalist paramilitaries, verified by the Independent International Commission, should occur by mid-February.
We realise that the completion of decommissioning is not technically required until May 22nd but we believe it is essential, as a matter of reciprocal confidence-building, that the Provisional IRA, the UDA and the UVF begin substantive decommissioning within weeks.
We also believe that those charged with proposing demilitarisation plans, and legal and human rights changes, should publish their plans as soon as possible, though we believe that decommissioning should, in view of the movement on police reform, take the highest priority. - Yours, etc., Chris Hudson MBE,
Chairperson, Peace Train Organisation, Dublin; Richard Kearney, Professor of Philosophy, Boston College, USA; John McGarry, Professor of Political Science, University of Waterloo, Canada; Tom Nairn, Author and Academic, Edinburgh; Brendan O'Leary, Professor of Political Science, London School of Economics and Political Science; Simon Partridge, Political Analyst and Writer, London.