The Irish Republican Army's promise to end armed struggle breathed new life into efforts to restore self-rule in Northern Ireland, but decades of sectarian mistrust mean words must be backed by action.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern planned to meet the moderate nationalist SDLP party on Friday morning to discuss what happens following the IRA's historic pledge.

Mindful of previous broken IRA promises, politicians say the outlawed group must now back words with action. But the onus is not all on them: Britain and Ireland have committed to fulfil promises delayed by the IRA's failure to disarm.

"There are difficult issues to be addressed. These include policing, the end to loyalist paramilitary activity and the restoration of the political institutions," Ahern said.

However, proving the IRA's deed is as good as its word remains the major challenge and restoring a local government that has been on ice for the past three years will take time.

"We will judge the IRA's bona fides over the next months and years based on its behaviour and activity," said fire-and-brimstone cleric Ian Paisley, leader of the province's main Protestant party, the pro-British Democratic Unionists (DUP).

Paisley's DUP, who did not sign up to the Good Friday Agreement that helped cement peace in the province, refuse to sit in government with their Catholic opponents Sinn Fein until the IRA proves it has disposed of all of its weapons, forever.

IRA, which fought a three-decade campaign against British rule until a 1997 ceasefire, said it would let one Catholic and one Protestant church representative, along with the international body, witness decommissioning.

It gave no timetable but The Irish Times quoted government sources as saying Ireland was hopeful the IRA's entire arsenal, which it said had been centralised in a number of munitions dumps, could be destroyed by the end of August.

The Irish Times said there were "strong indications" the first act of decommissioning could be days away.

As well as proving it has got rid of its arms, the IRA will need to show that its members have severed links to the beatings and thefts that have tarnished its reputation as Catholic guardians. An independent ceasefire watchdog will help to monitor progress.

Britain to 'normalize' the province

Following the IRA move, Britain committed to resuming efforts to "normalize" the province.

The SDLP urged Britain to make good on commitments to remove the army from police stations in which it still operates and remove army watchtowers from border areas.

On Friday Britain began demolishing one of its Northern Ireland army watchtowers - symbols of its military presence.

The move came as part of commitments by Britain and Ireland to fulfil promises delayed by the Irish Republican Army's past failure to disarm and as work resumed on securing a political deal that would restore suspended regional government.

Pulling down the eight hill-top watchtowers along the Irish border is one of the actions long demanded by Irish nationalists to normalise life in a province slowly emerging from a 30-year conflict in which 3,600 people were killed.

Changes on policing will also be important before a suspended Belfast-based assembly, set up under the Good Friday deal and in which Protestants and Catholics together run Northern Irish affairs, gets back on its feet.

The IRA's historic mistrust of the mainly Protestant police force was always used to justify its armed presence in its Catholic strongholds and Sinn Fein has so far refused to take seats to which it is entitled on the province's policing board.

Reactions to disarmament pledge

The McCartney sisters, whose brother - father-of-two Robert - was murdered by IRA members outside a Belfast pub in January, have reacted to the IRA statement pledging to end the armed struggle.

Paula McCartney said it behoved the paramilitary group to end both its campaign of criminality and armed struggle.

McCartney said the statement itself did not go far enough regarding the cessation of violence and criminality. She called on the IRA to stand back and let justice punish the murderers of her brother.

Action is needed, McCartney said. "If the IRA are committing to democratic means, why are Robert's killers continuing to be protected by the IRA?"

Her sister Catherine echoed similar sentiments. "I thought there would be more clarity about those involved in criminal activity," she said. "The IRA should have made it more clear that they would have no protection."

The Conservatives Northern Ireland spokesman, David Lidington, called on the IRA to disband immediately with the decommissioning of arms and explosives "completed and verified" to restore public confidence.

"All paramilitary and other criminal activities - including intimidation, shootings, beatings, robberies, smuggling and money laundering - must end for good," he said.

Democratic Unionist party leader Rev Ian Paisley said the statement was insufficient to convince unionists that republican paramilitaries had finally given up the gun for the ballot box.

"The history of the past decade in Northern Ireland is littered with IRA statements which we were told were 'historic', 'ground-breaking' and 'seismic'," he said.

"The unionist community feels no obligation to cheer the words of P O'Neill. We will judge the IRA's bona fides over the next months and years based on its behaviour and activity," he added.

UUP leader Sir Reg Empey warned it would take many months and years to convince the public that there was real intent behind the rhetoric.

"People are so sceptical, having been burnt so many times before," he said.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan said the IRA's new beginning had to "clear, clean and complete."

"The SDLP hopes that, as promised, all IRA paramilitary activity and all IRA involvement in organized crime will end now and for good - as well as the culture of cover-up and community control," said the nationalist leader.

"That is the only way we can get the agreement up and running and make progress for all the people of this island.

"The use of violence was always immoral and unjustified. It achieved absolutely nothing and brought incalculable suffering to victims throughout the North."

The US described the IRA renunciation of terror and violence as " potentially historic."

US President George Bush hailed British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern for their leadership in bringing about the pivotal declaration.

Source: China Daily