The President Mary McAleese said the IRA statement on weapons was "deeply encouraging", and provided hope to all those who had suffered through months of talk of breakdown and crisis.
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President Mary McAleese
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"Those words strike despair in people who have worked so hard for this. I think all the ‘Yes’ people will be thinking very much like me - very, very hopeful that we are actually watching something that is truly historic, that is going to be the key to unlocking the fullest potential of the peace process."
Mrs McAleese made her comments to RT´E from Uganda, where she is on an official visit.
"Of course, the people of Northern Ireland, the people who have been most noticeably hurt by the conflict that has been ongoing over the past 30 years, the people who are still suffering from the conflict, I hope tonight will have a brighter light in their hearts than there has been for a long time."
"I am thinking particularly tonight of our friends in the Unionist community, who have worked so hard and sacrificed so much to help the peace process move forward," Mrs McAleese said
"I hope that they will see this as meeting their needs to built up trust in their hearts, and, please God, they will respond in kind."