16.11, Saturday 6 May 2000

This is wonderful [article on BBC news]:

The IRA has said it is ready to begin a process that would "completely and verifiably" put its weapons beyond use.

Other parts of the agreement: Deadline for arms decommissioning put back to June 2001 (from this May), power-sharing with 16 days, renaming the Ulster Constabulary. I'm so impressed with the way this has been negotiated. It's the first time I've seen a system of negotiation which is aware of the potential of its own failure, and that's the real breakthrough of the past few years. There have been no setbacks, only pauses; we're ratcheting gradually towards peace and brilliantly, disagreeing about what happens tomorrow does not affect what has been built so far. Kudos to all involved.