The prize of a permanent and lasting peace has never been closer, Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid said in his Christmas message today.
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Dr John Reid. Photograph: Reuters.
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It had given him great satisfaction to see the people of the North moving out of the dark days of violence and conflict, he said.
"This Christmas I want to applaud the courage and determination of those who have reached out and grasped the opportunity of a lasting peace, against the background noise of those who want to wreck and destroy."
Dr Reid conceded the peace was not perfect but events - including the start to IRA decommissioning - proved progress was being made.
But in a year in which shootings and bomb attacks in Northern Ireland were at their highest level for seven years, Dr Reid was forced to declare the ceasefire of the UDA at an end.
He said: "Cowardly and murderous thugs still attempt to blight the peace process, a peace which many of you have fought so hard to achieve. I have no illusions about their evil intentions but they will not win."
But he saw hope in the ending of the long-running protest outside a Catholic primary school in North Belfast.
"The scenes at Holy Cross where primary school children were subjected to intimidation and abuse was the focus of much of the world's press during the year. Headlines of hate screamed out across the world.
"A solution seemed impossible.
"And yet, the will of right-minded people from both communities, the First and Deputy First Ministers and government showed that peace can win through," he said.
PA