There's every chance you've heard a lot of talk already about the signing of the Good Friday Agreement 25 years on.

But let's bring you back a quarter of a century to the start of 1998.

Lives and deaths are at stake here.

The Loyalist Volunteer Force says that it murdered one man and injured three others in a gun attack in Dunganon last night.

Two organisations not on ceasefire have both killed in the past 24 hours

and there are concerns that other groups could become involved.

This is going to be the first of many testing times in the months ahead.

I fear, of course, that this is the thin end of the wedge

and that we are on the slippery slope once again.

People need to, if you like, draw a breath and recognise that there are two roads before us.

One is the road to further conflict and one is the road to the negotiating table.

This is the second time Sinn Féin have been to Downing Street in a month.

Gerry Adams asked for this meeting when the Prime Minister rang him nine days ago to discuss

the two government's proposals for a settlement.

The serious negotiation has begun.

I believe there's a determination to go forward to discuss these issues seriously and to

try to reach an agreement.

They had hoped that last night's security alert had been just a hoax.

Instead, Ban Bridge woke to the news that a device containing £500 of explosives

could have ripped the town centre apart.

There are those outside the talks process who would like to see it collapse.

The question really is, is the political process in itself strong enough?

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