AFTER so many years of hatred and division, the decommissioning of the IRA's weapons was never going to satisfy everyone.

How can anyone really be sure that all the guns, mortars and explosives have really been put out of use for good? Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Irish Republic's Taoiseach Bertie Ahern are among those who are satisfied. The Reverend Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, is among those who are not.

Even if the doubters had photographic evidence of the arsenal being destroyed, it could never be enough for them to accept that it is finally over.

The truth is that genuine trust will take a lifetime, and possibly longer, to return to Northern Ireland. Only prolonged peace and democratic engagement will change the minds of those who find it impossible to believe that the IRA has consigned violence to history.

For now, all we can do is accept the assurances from General John de Chastelain, his team of international experts, and the two clergymen who witnessed the decommissioning, that the weapons have gone.

Is it a historic step towards peace, or a con? There is no ultimate proof, but how could there be?

After decades of mistrusting the terrorists of the IRA, we simply have no option but to give them the benefit of the doubt, hard though that may be.