Sir Ronnie Flanagan: Final briefing

The IRA made what was seen as an historic decommissioning move last October, when it confirmed a quantity of its weaponry had been put beyond use.

The move helped breathe new life into the faltering peace process and allowed Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble to fend off hardliners within his party who had been calling for disarmament.

Sir Ronnie also pointed out the IRA still had the potential to return to war but he said he had no reason to doubt the IRA's ceasefire.

However, he added: "The Provisional IRA continue to pose a threat because of their capabilities.

"As far as their announced cessation of operations, we see that holds but undoubtedly they are still intact as an organisation."

The Sinn Fein President, Gerry Adams, said that progress had already been made on the arms issue.

"This issue has been used to wear down the peace process, to undermine the peace process and to distract people from other issues," he said.

"Great progress has been made on the arms issue, causing some very considerable difficulties for republicans."

'Unprecedented'

The IRA's decommissioning move last October was confirmed by de the Chastelain arms commission.

It said it had witnessed an event which it regarded as "significant" in which the IRA had put a quantity of arms beyond use.

The material in question included arms, ammunition and explosives.

The IRA said at the time it was an "unprecedented move".

It was the first time that a republican group which has violently resisted the British presence in Ireland had ever disposed of weaponry in this way.

The IRA said its motivation was "to save the peace process".

The British Government responded swiftly to the move announcing the scaledown of some controversial military bases in south Armagh.

The absence of decommissioning of arms had been a key stumbling block to progress in the stalled Northern Ireland political process.

The move came after David Trimble said he intended to bring the political crisis to a head by withdrawing his Ulster Unionist ministers from the executive because his party could no longer sit in the executive with Sinn Fein.