Despite continuing deadlock over the transparency of the IRA handling of decommissioning, both unionists and republicans have agreed that republicans have effectively used words which indicate "the war is over".
During Tuesday's political choreography, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said his party's position was one of "total and absolute commitment to exclusively democratic and peaceful means".
He went on to say that implementation of the agreement provided the context for republicans and unionists to "pursue their objectives peacefully, thus providing full and final closure of the conflict".
Later the IRA said Mr Adams's speech accurately reflected its position.
Last night former Ulster Unionist Party assembly member Dermot Nesbitt said the republican movement was effectively saying "the war is over".
"We now have the conditions and we now have the republican movement pursuing peacefully its political objectives," Mr Nesbitt said.
"I fully understand that republicans will not, nor would I expect them to say the war is over. But that statement (on Tuesday) is grammatically saying the war is over. We have a new context whereby republicans are now going to pursue from here on in their objectives peacefully and therefore that means we now have the full and final closure of the conflict."
Former IRA prisoner Tommy Gorman agreed that the IRA had effectively said its armed struggle was "over for good".
"What this is saying is that the IRA has been made redundant," Mr Gorman said.
"I think it is slightly more explicit than previous statements. The problem is saying the words. It is obvious what is being said, but P O'Neill is not going to say it."
Anthony McIntyre, also a former IRA prisoner, said he believed that it had been known for a long time that the IRA would no longer use violence.
"The unionist grass roots will not be able to decode it (Mr Adams's speech) in the way in which Mr Adams wants them to decode it.
"There is no point speaking in French to people when they only speak English.
"I do not see a lot new. He is clarifying something that he has been saying for some time. I'm of the opinion that the IRA's war has long been over."
Mr McIntyre added that Mr Adams's statement was more significant when taken in context with David Trimble's speech to last Saturday's UUP conference in which he urged republicans to acknowledge that the agreement offered the "full and final closure of the conflict".
"It (Mr Adams's speech) is meeting a demand on the part of Trimble. Those of us who would say this is where it was going anyway are not surprised and would not attach a great deal of significance to it but in terms of Trimble, it is significant because he has met his demand that the Good Friday Agreement is the end of it," he said.
