In his statement today, Tony Blair should highlight the often unnoticed successes of the North's peace process, writes Mark Durkan.
Let's be clear about this. There is no crisis in the institutions. Nor is
there anything unworkable about them. This week could not have started more worryingly: a young Catholic murdered simply because he wore a Celtic football shirt; a young Protestant shot in his own neighbourhood.
Both are horrific reminders that the paramilitaries have not gone away. Both come at a time when concerns regarding their activity threaten not only the lives of young men, but also the future of the political process.
It is in this depressing climate that the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and the Secretary of State, John Reid, will be making statements at Westminster today. They are expected, in particular, to outline their approach to paramilitarism.
The SDLP has engaged intensively with both the British and Irish governments on what we believe must be done. We have given a clear message to both governments as to the way forward to protect lives, sustain the institutions of the Good Friday agreement and build peace.
We have also expressed real concerns about how the British government is handling matters. We do not believe Tony Blair should be seen to respond so eagerly to those political leaders who wish to star in their own standoffs. Impatient talk of deadlines should not be rewarded with hasty and ill-conceived actions and reactions.
The SDLP is also concerned at the impression of unilateralism created by a statement by the British government in the House of Commons.
Experience has proved that the peace process has always worked best when both governments work together. And paramilitary activity affects the whole of the island, North and South. That is why we believe the two governments should jointly address these issues.
As to how to manage the current difficulties in the process, the SDLP has been unequivocal. First and foremost, we have argued that all parties must affirm the absolute primacy of the institutions. That means making it clear that no party can respond to its own internal pressures or paramilitary wrongdoing by threatening to turn the lights out on our new democratic institutions of government.
Let's be clear about this. There is no crisis in the institutions. Nor is there anything unworkable about them. Indeed, the achievements have been impressive: the Executive and Assembly in the North have agreed budgets, new laws and a programme for government. A far-reaching reinvestment and reform initiative has shown the way to overhaul our dilapidated public services. North-South co-operation is being expanded.
In a historic move, agreement has been reached on taking forward the North-South Interparliamentary Forum which will bring together for the first time members of the two Irish parliaments, North and South, representing all the parties of all the people of all parts of Ireland. East-west links are being built to bring together eight committed administrations sharing problems and ideas for solutions to issues of common concern, from drugs to the environment.
The Policing Board has got off to an impressive start. Their appointment of Hugh Orde - the man who has been investigating police collusion with loyalists - as Chief Constable shows that the new order in policing in Northern Ireland is winning out.
Tony Blair would do well in his statement today to reflect all this good work, much of which goes unfairly unnoticed. For these achievements are the truest reflection of the success of the peace process. And the activities of masked men should not be allowed to conceal them.
Of course, huge challenges remain. Great changes are required to our physical infrastructure. Greater changes are required in the infrastructure of our society. While we have a peace of the politicians, we are far from a peace of the people. We must challenge both the latent sectarian attitudes and the blatant sectarian violence that have grown even as we have progressed politically. We still face the mammoth task of making common spaces of our contested streets and building a society that is shared, not segregated.
The question must be asked: how would collapsing the institutions of government help to do this? The truth is that it won't. Instead, it could only exacerbate community tensions and make worse the very problems that we all agree must be resolved.
Stable institutions also provide the common platform for confronting the paramilitaries. If we collapse the institutions of government, with what authority can those of us in the democratic process confront those involved in stirring up trouble?
Some still believe that the high-wire tactics of partial and total shutdowns of government have delivered for them. In fact, they have robbed us all. The plain truth is that paralysing government punishes the public, not the paramilitaries. All parties need to recognise this. The SDLP has argued that we must all recognise that the progress of the peace process has been built on inclusivity. It must not be weakened or watered down in any way. Nor do I expect that it will be.
Indeed, despite all the hype, nobody is expecting exclusion. Not the UUP. Not Sinn Féin. And certainly not the two governments which realise that this would be entirely counterproductive.
But this does not mean turning a blind eye to paramilitarism. There is no doubt but that recent times have seen violence on both sides - mostly loyalists attacking and even murdering vulnerable nationalists but also undeniably mainstream republicans attacking police stations and getting involved in street disturbances.
That is why both governments need to be honest and credible. When they know that paramilitaries are engaged in wrongdoing they should call it as they see it. Turning a blind eye encourages the paramilitaries to believe that they can get away with what they like. And when governments deny the obvious, use euphemisms and praise paramilitaries for not doing worse, people lose faith in the process.
But calling things as they are is not enough. That is why the SDLP has argued for a more vigorous policy of protection and prosecution: protection of communities under attack, like Short Strand, and prosecution of those responsible.
As in any normal society, the rule of law should be upheld through the courts and not by threatening to wreck the institutions or imposing crude and counterproductive sanctions. Part of the problem to date has been that the two governments have played down paramilitary activity for fear that others will overplay the need for exclusion. It must be possible instead for the governments to set clear standards while rejecting "nuclear sanctions".
We also believe that the political representatives of paramilitaries must recognise their responsibilities, too. They must help to calm the situation on the ground, control their hotheads and improve the atmosphere.
Thirty years of violence have left a terrible legacy of bitterness and division in our society. Removing that bitterness is the greatest of all the challenges still facing us. It requires the establishment of trust where little exists. Everybody knows that it will take time, that it will not be easy, and that it can only be done by all parties continuing to work hard together. And that - above all else - is what Tony Blair needs to say today.
Mark Durkan MLA is leader of the SDLP and Deputy First Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive