IRA terrorism and violence have been abandoned, the latest report by the Independent Monitoring Commission has reported.
The British and Irish governments' paramilitary watchdog reported that the Provisional IRA was not involved in terrorist activity, shooting and assaults, intelligence gathering, sectarian violence or intimidation, other forms of crime, exiling or fund raising.
Introducing the report in Belfast yesterday, former London anti-terrorist squad head John Grieve said: "I never thought I would hear myself say this but the directions from the Provisional IRA leadership to membership have remained clear and consistent and terrorism and violence have been abandoned. Members have been instructed not to be involved in activities such as weapons procurement, in criminality or in the use of force."
Some members were committing crime for personal gain but this was declining.
Dissident republican groups such as the Real IRA, Continuity IRA and a relatively new group calling itself Óglaigh na hÉireann still posed a threat. The IMC laid blame for violence carried out since the last report in the autumn with one or other of these groups.
Loyalist armed groups remained active, although there were some encouraging, if hesitant, signs of moves towards politics.
IMC member Lord Alderdice said the IRA was no longer an armed group while Mr Grieve claimed the IRA structure was now involved in "change management".
There was no evidence of any intention of a return to violence, they said. Information gathered by the commission pointed to ongoing commitment to the constitutional path.
Sunday's Sinn Féin extraordinary ardfheis was "a very major development" which provided "further substantial evidence of their commitment to the democratic process," the report said.
It heaped praise on the motion passed by delegates to the ardfheis and, in a section which is of key political significance," added: "It contained all the necessary elements of support for policing and criminal justice as set out in the St Andrews Agreement of October 2006."
"More generally, we are clear that the leadership of Sinn Féin and the republican movement as a whole remains firm in its commitment to the political strategy and continued to give appropriate instructions to the membership of the movement," the commissioners said.
"The existence of some opposing opinions on policing and criminal justice which were expressed and debated at the ardfheis and at earlier public meetings has neither weakened nor diverted the leadership."
The efforts of the Progressive Unionist Party and senior figures within the UVF to counter criminal activity were also noted. "[They] are committed to leading change and will continue to do so," the report said.
However it cautioned: "The account of UVF activity we give above shows that there is still a very long way to go." Similarly with the UDA and its political ally, the Ulster Political Research Group, the commissioners wrote: "The UPRG continues its initiatives in support of community development. However the pace of all these various efforts is steady rather than urgent."
The commission will report on the pace of demilitarisation or "security normalisation" in March and the next report on paramilitary activity will be in April.