The devolution process got under way in the House of Commons last night when MPs voted 318 to 10 in favour of an Order implementing the Northern Ireland Act 1998, transferring legislative and executive powers in areas such as agriculture, education and finance from Westminster to Belfast.
The Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, declared that sufficient progress has been made in implementing the Belfast Agreement for him to set a date for the start of devolution.
Urging MPs to recognise the importance of devolving real, practical power into the hands of politicians in Northern Ireland, Mr Mandelson said that "for the first time all shades of political opinion in Northern Ireland will have a stake in the future.
"After a quarter of a century the curtain is finally coming down on direct rule . . . after 30 years of violence the people of Northern Ireland can at last look forward to a future of hope and confidence."
Pledging his support for devolution, the Conservative spokesman for Northern Ireland, Mr Andrew Mackay, said there was, nonetheless, bitter disappointment that decommissioning was not a reality.
He reminded loyalist and republican terrorists "there ain't long to go" before the May 2000 decommissioning deadline.
Welcoming the transfer of powers, the First Minister-designate and UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, said the decommissioning "baton" had now been passed to the republican movement "and they will have to move quickly on that. They know that."
Condemning the Order, the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, said only those who eschewed murder and bloodshed should take office in a democracy.
The government was prepared to put criminals in office, he declared.
He advised Mr Mandelson to "talk, not lock the door against the victims".
Earlier, the House of Lords approved the Order enabling the transfer of powers without a vote.
When devolution is complete, legislative and executive power will reside with the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The Northern Ireland Secretary will, however, retain control over "reserved" matters, including policing, parades, prisons and the criminal justice system.
In the Lords, the Northern Ireland Minister, Lord Dubs, acknowledged that difficulties remained over decommissioning and that there was scepticism about what the government would do if it did not take place, but he said he believed it would happen.
"We have said throughout that we want devolution and decommissioning and we hold to that view. I hope that, whatever their misgivings, people, whether members of the public or political representatives, will now join in operating the new institutions for the common benefit."
The Conservative spokesman in the Lords, Lord Glentoran, welcomed the Order enabling the transfer of power as "another momentous step forward", but he warned the most difficult phase of the process had yet to come.
"I suggest the world is watching and waiting hopefully. A word of caution. The terrorist threat has not yet gone away."
A former Tory Northern Ireland minister, Lord Elton, said despite his "gentle exterior", it had taken him three years in office to persuade Catholics he was not seeking to dismantle their education system.
He urged Mr Martin McGuinness to use a "great deal of persuasion and some sort of significant gesture" to show people his heart was on the side of "children of all backgrounds".
Lord Fitt (Ind) said he believed all the parties would "fight tenaciously to keep this Executive in operation". They would not allow the "terrible tragedy" of the unnecessary deaths over the last 25 years to happen again, he declared.
He did not believe Mr McGuinness, as Education Minister, "would discriminate in any way in favour of a religious sect in Northern Ireland".
He added: "I believe he will accept his responsibility. I cannot see him discriminating against Protestants.
"The whole Northern Ireland community, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, would rise up in anger if he attempted to do so. I don't believe he will."
A Tory frontbencher, Baroness Blatch, urged Mr Mandelson to "stand shoulder to shoulder" with Mr Trimble if, by February, there was no progress towards decommissioning.