With the vision of a partnership government developed for over 30 years now a reality, the new institutions are falling into place daily. International acts and articles are gone. Institutional change has flowed with constitutional change.

Clouds which have hung over us for 30 years - in truth, 80 years - have lifted. Sovereignty is now in the hands of the Irish people, North and South. That sovereignty, North and South, will be respected.

Consent, and only consent freely given, will be the basis on which any future constitutional change may be sought or obtained.

We cannot regain the time lost but we can make the most of the time ahead - make the most of it to build a shared, inclusive society; make the most of it to foster an integrated island; make the most of it to create a safe, secure community.

It will take time to gain the allegiance of those opposed but we must seek it as the new, shared society is also theirs. Within a short time, they will realise that no one has been betrayed. There has been no sell-out.

Even enthusiasts for the agreement will require time to adjust to the new reality of self-government. It will be a government to which you can speak your mind; it should be a government which listens and delivers.

We must consciously put ourselves in the position of those who watched last week's momentous events scarred by the memory of lives lost in those long, dreadful years of violence. We can never know the pain suffered - in fact, still endured - by so many people in the North of Ireland and, indeed, in the Republic and in Britain.

No government, no executive, no legislation can undo that pain or right those wrongs. We promise each other and we promise them that it can never ever happen again.

There are four areas where I am committed to making progress as quickly as possible. They are equality, the programme for government, the development of North/South institutions and changes to policing.

If we have one vision for the new society we are trying to build it must be that of equality. Putting that vision into practice will require care and vigilance. We must ensure that every department works together in the fight against discrimination and that social need is effectively targeted.

Ministers cannot act as a discordant band of soloists. Instead, we must orchestrate all our collective energies in the fight against inequality and injustice.

That effort will be spearheaded by the new Equality Unit at the centre of government. It will co-ordinate the work of departments to tackle exclusion. Where necessary, it will challenge them to ensure that they live up to their commitments.

The Equality Unit will not only ensure equality of opportunity, it should also produce results. Nobody should be relegated to the second division. Marginalisation can never be accepted as inevitable. Ensuring equality means ensuring partnership, not only in government but also between government and society.

Northern Ireland has taken a lead with a new equality duty. This duty is unique and ground-breaking in the protection of human rights. It obliges government to consult widely with civic society. The new Executive cannot afford to be passive - it must actively realise the potential of the Good Friday agreement.

The important long-term work of drawing up a programme of government is getting under way and it is this which will put a distinctive stamp on the new government. All four parties in government will participate in the preparation of the programme.

This programme will seek to blend the creative with the functional and to bring coherence to the operation of the Executive. It will tell the people what they can expect and demand from government in the years ahead. The SDLP will bring to the work its long-standing commitments to social democratic values, to equality and to the development of an integrated society North and South.

Next week, the Executive hopes to adopt its first draft budget which it will submit to the Assembly before the Christmas recess. The budget will allocate expenditure from April 2000 to April 2001. Ministers are still coming to grips with their responsibilities and it is difficult to see how there could be major shifts in expenditure between departments and ministers at this stage in the life of the Executive.

The inaugural meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council will take place on Monday, to be followed later in the week by inaugural meetings of the British/Irish Council and the British/Irish Intergovernmental Council. Work to launch the Civic Forum has begun. We are committed to making all of the institutions established by the agreement work.

FOR the North/South Ministerial Council, Irish Ministers will come north to Armagh to discuss with their Northern counterparts the remit of the six important all-Ireland implementation bodies and the vital areas of co-operation. Already ministers from both sides have met in urgent additional areas of mutual interest.

Throughout the agreement, the importance of developing North/ South co-operation and action was central. We now have the structure. It is important to deliver key policy initiatives. That is the challenge facing ministers.

Yet this is not just a matter for politicians. This is the people's agreement. They made it so. They can now make the agreement real. They can bring the agreement that they so overwhelmingly voted for into their lives and the lives of their children. A people inured to violence can now celebrate peace in a way which lifts hearts and improves life on the whole island.

Similarly, the industrial and business community in the South should consider the North for that new investment. Invest in the peace we have achieved, nurture it and we all prosper. If you stood with us through the bad times, stand with us now to create the good times.

However, the task of realising the potential of the agreement does not fall on the Executive alone.

We must ensure that all who have had recourse to violence illustrate that the conflict is behind us. The first tentative indications in recent days that the decommissioning and normalisation processes can progress together gives us encouragement. We must rid society of all weapons of war, recognising that they are redundant, the surplus baggage of an outmoded philosophy which must never again be used.

From the foundation of Northern Ireland, the issue of policing has divided us like no other. Yet some things are clear. Nobody can deny the sacrifices of many in the police. Nobody can deny the pressing need for change.

With the Patten report we have at last the chance to make that change and create a new system of policing with which all can identify; one for which all can assume responsibility; a police service with the consent of all the community. The challenge for us all is to see this as an historic opportunity and not as a threat.

This week, the SDLP formally published its response to Patten, calling for the implementation of the report in full. With its 175 recommendations, this is a complex matter. But all are necessary to create the new policing service which we so clearly need.

If it's left to ministers in Stormont, Leinster House and Westminster, we will do our best. If it's left to the Assembly, it will do its best. But if it is to succeed, in the way I wish it to succeed, we must capture the spirit of the people and allow them to release that additional positive energy into our lives.