SDLP could be a refreshing change from republican gamesmanship

SO, can Northern Ireland get on with the rest of its life?

As I write this we still haven't seen the text of the IRA statement sent to the two Governments over the weekend. It seems, though, that the message may have got through this time, the Governments weren't for turning.

It's a classic Sinn Féin response that when they get into trouble, they blame everyone around them. There was a time, not so long ago, when Sinn Féin used to make a fetish out of refusing to indulge in "the politics of condemnation". In those days, of course, it was usually the actions and activities of the IRA that were up for condemnation. Since Sinn Féin got into politics full-time, it has become routine for them to condemn others for failure to respond, or to respond adequately, to the Sinn Féin agenda.

And for several days last week they were concentrating their fire on our Government, presumably in an effort to get them to re-open the whole negotiating process in order to get one last concession.

There were signs that it might have succeeded, if a meeting between the Government and the SDLP hadn't persuaded the Taoiseach to hold his nerve.

In any event, he appears to have got the message to the Provos that the negotiations are over, and that it is time for them to show the colour of their money.

As I say, we still can't be certain it's going to work. The stand-off between Sinn Féin (on the one hand) and everyone else, represented by the Governments (on the other) appeared to be about two things the timing of an IRA statement, and its content.

The IRA, it seemed, had demanded that the rest of the package of reforms would be published, in order to enable them to go through the charade of "considering them" (even though they know every word of them already) before responding. The Governments appear to have said thanks, but no thanks this time, we need to see it all what you're going to say measured against what we're going to say. In other words, we want to see your statement first.

This ultimatum naturally put Sinn Féin into a difficult position, at least partly because "Sinn Féin doesn't speak for the IRA" (they said that, I couldn't possibly comment). The difficulty of reconciling the two positions appears to have been the reason the Hillsborough meeting was called off last week. Sinn Féin's anger over it seems to have stemmed from their realisation that for once, in a way, the Irish Government wasn't going to be malleable.

The issue of timing (which document would be issued first) seems to have been resolved now, and it would appear that the Governments won that bit of the argument. The IRA have issued a public statement saying that they had given a private document to the Governments.

That enables the Governments at least to have certainty about the future intentions of the IRA before they publish their own package. The way therefore seems to be clear for that publication.

Assuming, that is, that the contents of the IRA statement are acceptable all round, that they do make it clear that the future of Northern Ireland is as a democracy free of the threat of paramilitary violence. There's no doubt in my mind that that's the direction we're heading. We have crossed the line, and there's no going back to the war now the great stupidity would be if anyone were to hold back from the future right now.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote here that in the near future, a statement from the IRA would "mark a defining moment in Ireland's peace process. We don't yet know the exact content, but I expect it to be made clear that paramilitary activity is over. With the end of paramilitary activity comes the beginning of a civil society governed solely by the rule of law."

And I pointed out in that piece that this "is a peace process that was once deemed impossible because of what used to be called the zero-sum game. Zero-sum means simply that I can only make a gain if you make an equivalent loss. I can only be happy if you feel miserable. I can only feel more Irish if you feel less British."

Hopefully, we can now get past the zero sum game and as I said at the start, allow Northern Ireland to get on with the rest of its life.

Maybe when they do, people up there will start to notice that there have been politicians who have managed a long time ago to move beyond the zero sum game. One of the great success stories of the last few years often obscured behind the theological rituals of the peace process itself has been the way in which unionism and nationalism have managed to work together in government for the betterment of the people of Northern Ireland.

The major credit for this, in my view, must go to the SDLP. They have gone out of their way to be builders rather than wreckers. They have worked for outcomes rather than indulged in process. While some in Northern Ireland always talk to their own first, the leadership of the SDLP talk to the community at large.

It has been a thankless task, and there is now talk that they face an uphill struggle in the Assembly elections that will be the next stage in copper-fastening Northern Ireland's progress. That mustn't be allowed to happen. If the peace is bolted down over the next couple of weeks, as I fervently hope it will be, what Northern Ireland needs most is an Assembly and a government that is free to talk about anything and everything except peace. Let them take peace for granted, and worry about taxes, education, health, job creation, urban renewal, the arts in other words, the things the rest of us worry about.

And what do you need to make that work? The ability to work together, to transcend difference, to depersonalise issues and deal with them on their merits, to develop an awareness that there is more to life and politics than one over-riding issue. No group of politicians in Northern Ireland is better trained and equipped in that sense for the job than the SDLP.

If I was dressing Mark Durkan for the Assembly elections, I think I'd have him carrying a hard hat and a rolled-up set of architect's drawings everywhere he went.

I'd want to convey the message that he's the builder and consolidator, because it's the truth. The way he and his team managed themselves over the last few years not only through the trauma of Assembly collapse and the day-to-day difficulties of working in a fractious and divided executive, but also through the difficult transition caused by the departures of Hume and Mallon they're the people I'd trust now.

Above all, wouldn't it be great for Northern Ireland to be able to look forward to five years of decent government and administration, of the people, by the people, and for the people? It's been a long time coming.