NORTHERN Ireland Secretary John Reid yesterday gave the Province a chance to salvage the fragile peace process.

His decision to suspend the Assembly was the only alternative to wholesale abandonment of the Good Friday Agreement.

It is to be hoped that the pro-Agreement parties make good use of the breathing space given for careful reflection.

The distance they have to travel is small compared to that they have travelled so far on the road to a lasting and secure peace.

We share Dr Reid's optimism that a solution to the deadlock is tantalisingly close. There is no doubt that the IRA has gone as far as anyone dare realistically hope in agreeing to verifiable disarmament. The onus is now on the Ulster Unionists, led by David Trimble, to match the concessions apparently granted by the republican movement.

It is too much to ask Mr Trimble and his supporters to publicly place their faith in the IRA promise to disarm.

But it is not beyond the realms of possibility for them to put their faith in a third party - like General John de Chastelain's independent commission - to oversee IRA disarmament.

Over the coming weeks it is essential that all sides hold their nerve, and don't succumb to the extremist elements in Northern Ireland opposed to the peace agreement.

They must come to terms with the fact that Dr Reid may have given them their very last chance to strike a deal.