THE Sinn Fein vice-president, Mr Pat Doherty, appeared to rule out any IRA decommissioning when he addressed republicans in Derry yesterday.
Mr Doherty said the significance of the silence of IRA guns should not be underestimated and he described the demand for decommissioning as "unreasonable".
Speaking to several thousand republicans in Derry's city cemetery, Mr Doherty said: "They [the IRA] have played a central role in the creation of the opportunity to achieve lasting peace. The initiatives they have taken should not be underestimated.
"The fact that the IRA guns are not now in use is of immense significance. It underlines the IRA's commitment to the search for a lasting peace settlement.
"The ceasefire created conditions for all of us to work towards that objective. Let me also say clearly that those who gave us Omagh have no part in our struggle."
Mr Doherty said Sinn Fein believed the Belfast Agreement could be a catalyst for change but he accused unionists of stalling.
He added: "They seek to delay, dilute, minimise, and for some that may mean collapsing the process. Our participation at the talks in Hillsborough over the last week was not about renegotiating or rewriting the Good Friday Agreement, but to see that what was agreed last year is implemented. It is on this basis that we are approaching the paper presented by the two governments last Thursday."