Taken together, the statements from Senator George Mitchell and General John de Chastelain, issued within a few hours of each other yesterday, hold out the prospect that a formula the decommissioning is at hand. The Senator and the General are working in tandem on related measures. The sequencing, which has been advanced so often as the only way to surmount the biggest obstacle to full implementation of the Belfast Agreement, has already begun.
Senator Mitchell, in his statement, said that the parties had engaged with one another in "an unprecedented manner" in the course of the lengthy review. He was increasingly confident that a way will be found to overcome the impasse over devolution and decommissioning. It was what he described as "common ground" between the pro-agreement parties and the two governments that decommissioning should occur as quickly as possible.
Some hours later, at the request of the Senator, General de Chastelain published a helpful technical assessment of the current position on decommissioning. The implementation of the Belfast Agreement in all its aspects, he said, would create "a new context in which the situation will be transformed". He called on the paramilitaries to respond urgently by appointing authorised representatives to hold discussions about modalities with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning. He then proposes to issue a report within days of such meetings.
The early signs are that the man who brokered the Belfast Agreement nineteen months ago, has negotiated a workable compromise on the practical steps to facilitate its implementation. Senator Mitchell's statement has been welcomed by the two governments. The pro-agreement parties will make their positions public today. A critical question now is whether Mr David Trimble will be able to muster a sufficient majority in the Ulster Unionist Party to enable the executive to be established. The scale of the internal battle he faces will become clearer after the IRA issues its expected statement on Thursday. For now, Mr Trimble is to be commended for literally putting his leadership on the line to secure a positive outcome.
By the strangest of coincidences, yesterday's welcome developments emerged on the fourteenth anniversary, to the day, of the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement. The 1985 agreement was historical in its time; it gave the Irish Government a consultative role in Northern Ireland affairs for the first time without changing its constitutional status as part of the United Kingdom. It pales in significance with the passage of years, however, compared to the truly historic opportunity now afforded to implement the Belfast Agreement. The people of this island, North and South, have already spoken. They have mandated their political leaders in concurrent referendums to grasp the opportunity for peace, co-operation and harmonious co-existence which is at the heart of the Belfast Agreement. There are encouraging signs that the will of the people may soon prevail.