GERRY ADAMS, SINN FEIN PRESIDENT
If we are to make progress as a people, as an island people, then republicans and nationalists and unionists will have to set the terms of our relationship.
Republicans - we who have assembled here and thousands like us - believe that the best way to achieve this is to take control of our own destiny.
This means persuading the British government to face up to its responsibilities - and that means the British government leaving Ireland.
BERTIE AHERN, IRISH PREMIER
This a landmark decision which has opened the way to Northern Ireland power-sharing.
It is vital that we continue to maintain the momentum from the St Andrews agreement and the timetable set out in that agreement.
PETER HAIN, NI SECRETARY
This overwhelming endorsement of the Sinn Fein leadership's support for policing and the courts puts Northern Ireland in a place where it has never been before.
What had always been a massive impediment to stable and lasting government has been removed.
We have always said that to make the breakthrough both Sinn Fein and the DUP have both to deliver on the twin pillars of support for policing and power-sharing. Now, that can be done.
SIR HUGH ORDE, PSNI CHIEF CONSTABLE
Our view has always been that policing is a public service which every member of the community should be able to access on an equal and equitable basis.
I have always said that no ideology or individual should stand between the public and that service and that the community is entitled to have their public representatives hold this police service to account.
I believe that the community has recognised for some time now the value and importance of the professional and dedicated service provided by the officers and staff of the Police Service of Northern Ireland on a daily basis.
I recognise and pay tribute to the courage and determination of people both inside and outside the police service who have enabled us to arrive at this moment.
It marks another step along a road which has travelled through some difficult territory and visited pain and hurt on many families, including policing families.
SIR REG EMPEY, UUP LEADER
The UUP has been saying for months that Sinn Fein had nowhere else to go as they had to sign up to the Pledge of Office to support law and order before joining any future executive.
It should also be noted that the decision of the SDLP to support policing in 2001 made today only a matter of time.
The tragedy is that it has taken republicans so long to wake up to change and play their last card.
DESMOND REA, POLICING BOARD
I welcome the decision taken today and look forward to Sinn Fein joining the Policing Board, which I trust will be sooner rather than later.
Full political and community support for policing will be for the benefit of the whole community.
SAMMY WILSON, DUP MP
The ultimate test of this, because there is no trust in Sinn Fein, is will they deliver on supporting policing before they get into government?
They cannot get into government and not support the police.
DAVID LIDINGTON, SHADOW NI SECRETARY
We welcome this as a step forward.
Now we need to see evidence of actions on the ground to demonstrate the republican movement is matching words with deeds.
MARK DURKAN, SDLP LEADER
Mark Durkan said politics in Northern Ireland could move forward
They now need to sign with no ifs or buts. As Gerry Adams now accepts, nationalist areas need policing.
That's why it makes no sense to wait until the DUP accepts the devolution of justice.
The British and Irish Governments want to see powers over policing devolved to an Northern Ireland minister by 2008, a prospect leading DUP figures have ruled should not happen within a political life-time.
Badge of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin's support of the PSNI is considered crucial to getting devolution working again.Sinn Féin, the Irish political party widely regarded as the political wing of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, has voted to accept the Police Service of Northern Ireland at an ''ard fheis'' (party conference) held in Dublin. 982 party members voted on the motion at the conference, where over 2,500 people were in attendance. 

Surprisingly, over 90% voted in support of the motion after leadership forced a vote to cut short a six hour debate. Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams called the decision was truly historic, saying, "Today you have created the potential to change the political landscape on this island forever."

The vote is historic due to the fact that Irish republicans viewed the police and the legal system in Northern Ireland as a unit of British rule since the partition of Ireland in 1921. In fact, from the start of the troubles to the ceasefire in the late 1990s, the Provisional IRA had fought the PSNI's predecessor, the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

Last Monday, a report released by Nuala O'Loan, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland confirmed collusion between the RUC and the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force.

He also he was also willing to meet with dissident Irish republicans such as the Continuity IRA and it's political wing, Republican Sinn Féin; and also the Real IRA, who was responsible for the 1998 Omagh bombing, saying " However, Adams also claimed at a rally on Friday, he felt, "In my opinion, there is only one IRA, and that's the one which fought the British for a very long time." 

However, the Continuity IRA and Republican Sinn Féin rejected Adams' offer. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, the Republican Sinn Féin president said, "Ultimately, it is the British government which will recruit, it is the British government which will train, motivate, and above all who will pay and give the orders to such a police force."

A statement from Downing Street said that British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed the "historic decision and recognised the leadership it has taken to get to this point". Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern called the vote a "landmark decision," and that it "has opened the way to Northern Ireland power-sharing."

Blair and Ahern will meet at Downing Street tomorrow.

Sinn Féin's support of policing was one of the obstacles to the devolution process, the other is Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party commitment to power-sharing. The acceptance of the police is what Blair and Ahern believe is crucial to persuade the DUP into setting up a new government.

Ian Paisley said his stand "forced Sinn Féin to recognize support for the police and the rule of law as an issue of paramount importance for which there can be no other way" and that "Sinn Féin must now walk this road, the time for true, visible and open support for the police and law enforcement has arrived."

Some Democratic Unionists believe that Sinn Féin had only made a commitment in words only and that people in Sinn Féin power bases would not report crimes. 

Peter Hain, Northern Ireland secretary said the vote was a breakthrough. PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde welcomed the decision also.  Professor Sir Desmond Rea, the chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board hoped to see Sinn Féin join the board. 

Sir Reg Empey, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party said it was "a massive step change in the republican psyche."

Social Democratic and Labour Party leader, Mark Durkan said "They now need to sign with no ifs or buts. As Gerry Adams now accepts, nationalist areas need policing."

The transitional assembly at Stormont is due to be dissolved tomorrow in preparation for elections on March 7. However, if the process goes astray and no election occurs, the assembly will be dissolved and remain dissolved indefinitely.

Finally, the Indepdent Monitoring commission is due to release a report on the IRA's commitment to the peace process according to the British and Irish governments.