The victims of republican violence during the Troubles will now want to be assured that the pain, which has been acknowledged by the IRA in its apology, will never be inflicted again, writes Dr John Reid
The IRA's apology has been broadly, if cautiously, welcomed by a cross-section of governments, parties and individuals involved in the peace process in Northern Ireland.
Like many others, I was struck by the strength of the apology itself and the acknowledgment by the IRA of the pain it caused throughout its campaign of violence. For those reasons alone, it is highly significant and all the more so in the context of the republican movement's history.
I have no doubt that the intention behind this statement was conciliatory and that the IRA leadership has expressed opinions which were genuinely difficult for the republican movement.
However, those of us who welcome the IRA's decision to apologise should also understand why others - particularly the victims of terrorism - find it difficult to accept, precisely because they are suffering from the pain which the IRA itself, along with other loyalist and republican groups, inflicted.
The apology is, after all, primarily directed at the victims and they are the ones who need to be convinced of its sincerity before all others.
I know that many of those victims will find their division into categories of "combatants" and "non-combatants" painful.
I have met families of police officers, soldiers and politicians who were murdered in the course of their duty who will be hurt by their apparent exclusion from the apology - although their pain is acknowledged.
Of course the IRA's view that there should be "no hierarchy of victims" is true to the extent that pain and grief are indivisible.
So often over the past year I have met the families of victims from both sides of the divide, including the families of IRA men. The grief of a bereaved mother or widow or son is no less acute because of their politics.
I and the government of which I am a member regret every single death during the Troubles, no matter what their background or by whom they were killed.
But it does not follow that there is moral equivalence between the actions which caused these deaths. The simple fact is that terrorism as a tactic for advancing a political cause is wrong.
So to those who find the apology hard to accept I would say this. I embrace this apology without begrudging and with genuine gratitude, because civilised, democratic values lead me to respond generously to a gesture which I believe is well-intentioned.
However, in order to do so I do not need to embrace the moral outlook of any paramilitary organisation which offers an apology.
I acknowledge, of course, that the issue an apology of this sort is not an easy matter for those who hold to the republican value system. And as always, what to some republicans will seem to be a move too far and too fast, others will see as too little and too slow.
I am prepared though to trust that this is an important step by the IRA along the road to permanent peace and to test the good faith of the apology against future actions. I do believe that, as Tony Blair said earlier this week, the IRA is further from a resumption of its campaign than it has ever been.
The real test is whether the IRA's transition from violence to democracy continues apace and, in doing so, gives confidence to the whole political process.
In dealing with the past we need also to be sure of the future. That would be to translate the acknowledgement of past pain into practical security for the future.
I hope many of the victims of violence will be able to share this view, but I understand that they will want to be assured - as we all do - that the pain acknowledged by the IRA in their apology will never be inflicted again.
Dr John Reid MP is Secretary of State for Northern Ireland