The agreement was described as "a monumental achievement" by the Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, who expressed confidence that it would be endorsed in the referendums.

He said that during the course of the troubles, more than 3,600 people had been killed, approximately 30,000 people had been wounded, and incalculable emotional and psychological damage had been done to untold thousands of people in the North. The economic and physical damage to the economy and infrastructure of Northern Ireland and, indeed, to Britain and the Republic was in the order of £20 billion to £30 billion.

"That anyone, either unionist or nationalist, northerner or southerner, should wish to return to these deeply unhappy times is inconceivable. That, I believe, is the logic which will carry the day."

Congratulating all the participants in the talks, Mr Quinn said much of what Labour had consistently argued for was contained in the agreement. "Given the nature of the problem and the intense difficulties surrounding the very commencement of the talks process itself, I believe that the form and content of this agreement in its entirety is the best outcome that could have reasonably been expected by anyone with any sense of the difficulties involved in this historical conflict.

"Accordingly, I salute the tenacity and the vision of all of the participants in the talks. In particular, I want to salute the role played by some of the smaller parties and groups."

He said that the Women's Coalition had brought a new voice to politics in the North, one that was commonplace in the Republic and throughout the rest of Europe. "The full incorporation of that voice into political, business and social life in the North remains one of the tasks ahead."

Welcoming the proposed establishment of a civic forum, Mr Quinn said he believed it had the potential to accelerate the normalisation of politics in the North.

David Ervine and Gary McMichael, representing the PUP and the UDP respectively, had in many ways been the bright lights of the dialogue, he said.

"They and those they represent have travelled a long road since the days of the Ulster Workers Council strike, which destroyed the Sunningdale power-sharing executive in 1974. The political advice which they have given to the loyalist paramilitary groups and the clear influence which they have exercised over those paramilitary organisations have been immeasurably important in arriving at this agreement and may prove even more so in securing broad-based consent to it.

"Their support for David Trimble has been crucial. Had they aligned themselves with the more reactionary brand of unionism, we might not have been here today and our prospects of a successful outcome would have been smaller."

The Alliance Party, too, had played a consistent and significant role throughout the entire process, said Mr Quinn. While the party had not the level of electoral support enjoyed by either the UUP or the SDLP, it had never departed from its message of tolerance.

The role of the SDLP had been hugely important, said Mr Quinn. The very design of the talks process itself was the product and vision of its leader, John Hume, while the attention to detail by Seamus Mallon throughout the talks had been a wonder to behold.

He said that David Trimble had led the Ulster Unionist Party "magnificently" in the talks. "While I salute and take comfort from the significant victory which he has obtained, both with the executive of his Ulster Unionist Party and, more significantly, with the Ulster Unionist Council last Saturday, I am realistic enough to realise that his problems have not entirely gone away.

"However, the fact that John Taylor, Ken Maginnis and Reg Empey have remained solidly behind him is both welcome and significant. All of them are fully aware of the fate of the late Brian Faulkner and I am sure that none of them wants to repeat that experience.

"There are, however, significant differences between then and now. In particular, the Northern Ireland plebiscite, coupled with the referendum in the Republic, when carried, will provide the democratic underpinning for agreement absent in 1974. Of equal significance, though, is that the world was a very different place in 1974. The Irish people, both North and South, were more insular and less war-weary than they are today."

Mr Quinn said Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Mitchel McLoughlin of Sinn Fein had been the media starts of the process. "I do not begrudge them their success because I believe that they are each engaged upon a most important political voyage. In my personal opinion, they have made both a historical and psychological shift from the physical force tradition to that of democratic politics.

"While their conversion is to be welcomed, it should be remembered that they are not the first to have crossed that bridge. But their arrival there is arguably the most significant, particularly as it appears they have done so with their political base intact. Of course, there remains an enormous task ahead of them within their own party and amongst their own supporters.

"They cannot be absolved of their responsibility for the many atrocities committed by the IRA with their explicit endorsement and support. Nevertheless, this agreement could not have been possible without their presence at the table.

"I recognise that they have decided to take the next four weeks in which to engage in a dialogue of consultation and persuasion with their members and that their ardfheis will reconvene to formulate and decide upon a definite position. I welcome that process and I salute the political courage of the Sinn Fein leadership in engaging upon an open and comprehensive democratic debate within their own party."

Mr Quinn said it was essential that Sinn Fein be active participants in the assembly elections and that it take its seats if successful.

"When Sinn Fein agreed to take its seats in the Dail for the first time, it led to the formation of Republican Sinn Fein. Further back in history, we know how difficult it was for the Fianna Fail party, which broke away from Sinn Fein in the 1920s, to make the similar decision to take its seats here in this parliament.

"No Fianna Fail party member today will, I think, regret the decision that was made by Fianna Fail at that time to participate in the democratic assembly of Dail Eireann here in Leinster House. In time, I believe that the supporters of Sinn Fein will come to a similar conclusion about their participation in an assembly in the North."

Mr Quinn said he rejected the attitude to changes in Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution that had informed the editorial line on some of the national newspapers. The idea that every concession by the nationalist side should be counted and a corresponding concession sought from the other side in a mechanistic fashion merely repeated the tortuous "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" logic which had dominated the past 100 years.

"Putting the negotiation process aside, many aspects of this agreement have been arrived at because they are right both politically and ethically - regardless of when a particular concession was first mooted or given away."

He said all parties in the House had recognised that a successful resolution of the prisoners' issue was critical. "In South Africa the release of political prisoners was a key element in getting discussions on the future of that country started. Ultimately, they will prove no less significant in Ireland. But the sensitivities involved are important.

"We cannot allow the message to go out that we can tolerate the release of prisoners whose atrocities have been committed in the North while seeking to detain those who have offended against our own institutions. Again, a consistency of approach, north and south of the Border, is an absolute necessity here if we are to avoid the development of tensions which could undermine the agreement."