Two weeks ago, our political leaders met with the British and Irish Governments in St Andrews to map out the future of Northern Ireland. On the final day of talks the two Governments produced the 'St Andrew's Agreement' which states that all the parties now have until November 10th to formally reply whether or not they agree with this framework and whether or not the Assembly, executive and all other related functions will be back up and running by March 26th 2007.

We are all painfully aware of the horrors of the past but we must also realise that the complete implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and the Institutions would be beneficial to everyone that lives here, regardless of political affiliation and beliefs.

We should acknowledge that many individuals have been affected by and are still suffering from the past but we must for the sake of future generations and ourselves go forward together in equality and understanding.

When we look back to when the Assembly was up and running and we had locally elected governance, our ability to influence policy was greatly enhanced by the fact that we didn't have to go through a middle man to be heard. At the moment our elected politicians can only lobby on our behalf on most issues and have in other words been reduced to lobbyers instead of decision makers.

We only have to look at the negative decisions taken by direct rule ministers recently to see how powerless we all become when locally elected politicians lack the ability to directly influence policy. Decisions are made without proper consultation or scrutiny and implemented in the face of direct opposition from the majority of our people. Hopefully the 'St Andrew's Agreement' now changes all that.

Our local business leaders have also highlighted the advances made previously in the context of a fully functioning Assembly, executive, and All-Ireland institutions. This breeds confidence locally, nationally and internationally.

Of course our communities differ on many political matters, not least the constitutional issue, but the successes of the past should have given us the maturity and the acquired tools to continue to build a sustainable, durable and lasting peace while allowing us to pursue our political aspirations on the basis of equality and mutual confidence.

There has been amazing changes in our society for the good and many individuals and organisations have worked tirelessly to bring those changes about.

There is now an onus on our political leaders to finalise the deal, reinstate the Assembly and for every one of us to double our efforts to create the changes which are now possible and necessary.

We are most definitely at a stage in the peace process where we can grasp permanent stability, within the framework of an agreed political way forward that treats every political aspiration equally and allows people - from whichever sphere of our society - to take ownership of their own destiny without fear and with confidence.

For all of our sakes, let's not lose it at this final hurdle.