From Craig-Collins and O'Neill-Lemass, through Sunningdale and the Good Friday agreement, the path to a workable peace settlement has been arduous.
There have been countless junctures along the way when progress seemed impossible. Now, with the resignation of David Trimble, with sectarian violence on the rise and with Drumcree upon us once again it seems we are at such a juncture once more. We have overcome difficulties before, and it is imperative that we do so again. The alternative is not an option.
The Taoiseach has already made it clear that a republican move on decommissioning is now necessary as part of moving forward on a broad front and preserving the gains already made.
Seamus Mallon, writing in this paper on Tuesday, was equally clear. Indeed, the electorate North and South, through their overwhelming ratification of the agreement, are also supportive of decommissioning as part of the implementation of the agreement as a whole.
It would seem that Sinn Fein has interpreted its successes in the recent local and general elections in Northern Ireland as a mandate to stall on its commitment to advance the decommissioning agenda. Three years after the signing of the agreement, the time for delivery on this issue is plainly overdue.
The Sinn Fein argument, that decommissioning is not possible until we have considerable further progress on demilitarisation and policing, is at this stage disingenuous.
Demilitarisation, for example, has already begun. I do not believe that it has gone far enough: along the Border and in south Armagh specifically military installations continue to dominate the landscape. Whatever about the extent, demilitarisation at least has begun. Decommissioning has not.
Similarly in the area of policing, although much of the British government's reaction to the Patten Report was inadequate, at least there has been movement on the issue.
On the other hand, as Gen John de Chastelain's report to the Irish and British governments on Monday made clear, the decommissioning target dates called for in the agreement and by the governments have not yet been met.
The Good Friday agreement cannot be implemented a la carte by any of the parties. It is a finely balanced document which must be implemented in its totality, with all of the parties moving forward together.
As the days progress into the marching season and the prospect of the suspension of the institutions established under the agreement nears it is imperative that all parties redouble their efforts to save the agreement.
I want to bring home to readers just how hard it was to get this far, just how much each side gave and just how important it is to save the agreement.
The negotiations which led to the agreement began in earnest on October 7th, 1997, after the IRA had resumed its ceasefire.
I was appointed minister for foreign affairs on the 8th and, after a series of sleepless nights filled with coffee and briefing notes, I apprehensively began my participation in the negotiation process.
Even at this stage, many years after the initial dialogue, relationships were tremendously strained. Indeed, between Sinn Fein and the UUP they were non-existent.
Initially the UUP refused to answer questions put to it by Sinn Fein, but later on it changed position and agreed to answer questions through the chair. One aspect of the DUP's behaviour which I found fascinating and at times hilarious was their habit of dodging behind trees whenever we, in the Irish Government delegation, would leave the talks for a breath of fresh air, lest they be contaminated by contact with us.
Outside the negotiations relationships were no better. Just hours after the British Prime Minister met Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness for the first time on October 13th, he was mobbed by angry loyalists.
I found myself in deep trouble soon after when, in the course of a long interview with the BBC on November 28th, I made the comment that the North-South bodies would be "not unlike a government". The comment was singled out and pounced upon.
I found myself a pariah of the unionist parties. I faced the wrath of the unionist representatives in a long meeting and afterwards diplomatically withdrew the comment, which I have always regretted doing. As time when on, however, we did succeed in establishing more constructive relations with the Ulster Unionist Party which contributed to the making of the agreement.
The initial degree of distrust was huge. The potential for the negotiations to break down at any minute was always present. Yet we worked away, from diametric opposites, working towards the centre, the Good Friday agreement. Anyone who worked through those negotiations knows that there is no better deal for either side.
We all had to make sacrifices. We reformulated Articles 2 and 3 in our Constitution, Sinn Fein recognised the principle of consent, the unionists accepted the North-South bodies and the principle of police reform. With all the sacrifices made, full delivery from all sides is urgently awaited. As the Taoiseach and Mr Blair bring the pro-agreement parties together over the coming days, for all our sakes they have to succeed.
dandrews@irish-times.ie