In the future there cannot be room for ambiguity. They have to make their position absolutely clear before they can expect anyone to respond to it.

The dark shadow we seem to see in the distance is not really a mountain ahead, but the shadow of the mountain behind - a shadow from the past thrown forward into our future. It is a dark sludge of historical sectarianism. We can leave it behind us if we wish.

We now have a chance to create a genuine partnership between unionists and nationalists in a novel form of government.

You cannot say that there is a peace agreement if some party has a private army armed to the teeth ready for action.

This clears the stalemate we have had in terms of process,

I hope we can actually bring about fairly soon a situation in Northern Ireland where everybody, even those who, at the moment, are skeptical of the process, can feel safe and confident.