THE confirmation that Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams is to be met by Tony Blair at Downing Street, probably before Christmas, will understandably stick in the craw of many.

After all, is not Mr Adams the front man for the IRA which, while ostensibly participating at a remove in the Ulster peace process, still holds the restoration of violence in reserve and the arsenal to go with it?

And who can forget that just six years ago the IRA was launching a mortar bomb attack on the very building where Mr Adams will be received as a guest?

Yet, difficult as it may be to suppress the bitter sentiments that the years of IRA terrorism provoke, one has to ask what progress or solution to the Northern Ireland problem may be found if the republican movement and its representatives are not given political recognition, especially now they are participants in the dialogue.

The ultimate alternative, surely, is only their exclusion - and the restoration of violence.

It is against that reality that the claims of government appeasement must be weighed.

Over Ulster, the only way forward to a peaceful settlement is through negotiation and compromise - with and by all sides.

Outside of that process, the only recourse is the armed conflict that has produced nothing in the way of "victory" for anyone, nor ever will.

Thus, when Mr Adams crosses the doorstep of No.10, it will be an event that may be difficult for many to stomach, but it will be one that has to take place if reality is to assist the goal of lasting peace in Ulster.

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