The full implementation of the Good Friday agreement offers a new and better future. Those who have suffered so much as a result of an ancient quarrel can now look forward to governing themselves, to stepping forward in this new millennium with renewed hope and justifiable pride in what has been achieved.
The Good Friday agreement offered all of us the chance to put the past behind us, to build a new and better future, to end the hate and distrust which have destroyed so many lives. What seemed so distant in those dark days is now a reality.
Many said it could not be done. Many said that the problems of Northern Ireland, the ancient conflict which has caused so much pain, despair and tragedy, could not be solved. Many said that calling on all parties to sit round the table and thrash out their differences was a foolhardy stance to take. When things fell apart in January, the whingers sat back with satisfaction and said "We told you so". But look at us now.
Bobby Kennedy once famously said: "Some men see things as they are and ask why. I dream things that never were and ask why not". The SDLP had a dream, a dream which still inspires us. And the realisation of that dream means, for us, new and exciting responsibilities.
Those responsibilities will fall to us as we take our place, our rightful place, at the core of the government of Northern Ireland and at the cutting edge of the creation of a new relationship among the people of our island.
The SDLP has always recognised that the fundamental problem was not the division of our country, but the division of our people: not the line on a map but the line in our hearts and minds. Having wasted our energies on the issues that divide us, our society can now turn to the many areas of common interest which affect us all as we go about our daily lives, areas which through working together can help us to learn to trust each other.
We have always stood firm against violence, but we also had to understand that it had deep roots in the political culture of the island, and in both traditions. We in the SDLP took on the task of showing, through patient analysis and argument, that there was a better way. We stuck at it when the doubters and detractors howled scorn. Now the common political language of erstwhile adversaries reflects the legitimacy of that approach.
Now, at last, it's time to move things on.
We need to put in place new policies to alleviate and resolve the crisis in agriculture. We need to reform our educational system so that each student is enabled to develop his or her own potential. We need to ensure that our healthcare system uses the most modern technologies while not losing touch with human values and its close connection with individual areas.
In particular, we need to find ways of tackling the long-term social and economic inequalities which still persist, despite worthwhile reforms. We need to harness the abilities of our people, and the solidarity of our friends overseas, to bring about in Northern Ireland an economic development similar to that witnessed in the South.
The international interest shown in our process of building a peaceful society has translated itself into massive international investment. Through the success of the institutions and the growth of trust, that investment will also increase, to the enormous benefit of all our people.
The North-South Ministerial Council and implementation bodies are also of huge importance. There is a very great deal to be done on a cross-Border and all-island basis across all the sectors of our social and economic life - whether in the areas of energy, economic development, the environment, transport, health or education.
Following the good work done in the few months when the institutions were up and running at the turn of the year, Ministers from North and South can again come together, in a systematic and focused way, with the support of a standing secretariat, to agree common policies and take common actions. This will be done by agreement and for mutual benefit.
The SDLP also supports the new British-Irish structures and will play a full and enthusiastic part in making them work. If we as public representatives and political leaders can work together in a true spirit of partnership we will, I am convinced, gradually transform the environment across Northern Ireland and in our island. The barriers which matter - those between people - will erode. But there is much to be done in order to realise the promise of the agreement.
Above all, the detailed prescription recommended by Patten for the transformation of policing must be implemented faithfully and in full. A police service with membership from all sections of our community, and a service which respects the traditions and beliefs of all in the community.
Patten and his international team of experts offered us a blueprint for the "new beginning to policing". The British government promised to take all necessary steps to implement the report in full. That surely must mean fundamentally rethinking the current defective Police Bill.
There are also serious issues to be resolved regarding flags and emblems. As far as flags are concerned, the Good Friday agreement says that the issue should be tackled in a sensitive manner.
For too long flags have been used to browbeat and intimidate.
Rushing now to make a big issue of flying flags over buildings will not allow us to resolve the underlying difficulties attached to the entire issue of identity and allegiance. Only through working to overcome these difficulties in a serious and deliberate manner, paying attention to each other's sensitivities, will this issue be resolved to the satisfaction of all.
On the parades front, we want to see a society where the civil rights of all sections of our people are respected, and where those who are exercising their civil rights recognise that to every right there corresponds a duty to exercise those rights responsibly. Again, this is something which needs to be achieved through direct dialogue by all those involved.
If all of these things are set about in a responsible and forward-thinking manner, not only will there be practical benefits, there will be, through working together, a real beginning to the healing process. As we build trust we build respect.
We have made a giant leap forward. We have built upon the foundation stones laid by the Good Friday agreement. We have offered our children a better future.
But more, so much more than that we have sent a resounding message around the world. There is no conflict which cannot be resolved. There is no argument so bitter, so protracted, so deeply entrenched in the psyche of its people that it cannot be tackled through dialogue and the patient building of trust. There is nothing that cannot be achieved.
What is required is the courage, the will and the vision to recognise the opportunities now open to all our people, to grasp them and make them a reality. That courage, that will and that vision have been demonstrated by those parties who negotiated the Good Friday agreement, and worked so hard to get us to this historic point.
We, the people of Ireland North and South, now have a solemn responsibility not just to ourselves but to the rest of the world. We have shown that agreement can be reached. We have shown that inevitable difficulties in implementing that agreement can be worked through with patience, hard work and good will.
Now we must show that agreement was worth coming to. We must show that agreement can provide all the people with a society to be proud of. We must show the rest of the world that dreams can come true, and that adopting a positive outlook can overcome failure in these cynical times.
Others involved in conflict, others who have lost loved ones through violence and terror, must have a beacon of hope to train their sights upon.
Let the people of Ireland, North and South, who put their trust in dialogue, agreement and accommodation, provide other areas of conflict with that beacon.
Let us hope that at the end of this century, the citizens of the world will look back on this time and see it for what it was, a new beginning, a new hope, a new way forward.
John Hume is leader of the SDLP