IT WAS a moment in history, all right.

And, for many, it will have been a stomach-churning one to see the apologists for murderers welcomed into No.10 Downing Street.

But if in meeting Sinn Fein leaders Tony Blair was taking a risk to keep the Ulster peace process on track, it will be the first of many risks and compromises that all sides will have to agree if a lasting settlement is reached.

Yet, if the credentials that admitted a Sinn Fein leader into Downing Street for the first time since 1921 were those of the party being treated as a mainstream member of the democratic process, it is surely now time that it began showing greater commitment to democracy.

Let Gerry Adams and the IRA give something in return then to show their determination to keep the peace process going and to prove it to the suspicious Unionists.

Only when they begin to hand over their arms can they begin to be trusted as peace-seekers.

Previous news story

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.