The North's biggest paramilitary organisation, the Ulster Defence Association, has pledged to end all violence and work towards complete disarmament.
The announcement was made by Tommy Kirkham of the Ulster Political Research Group, the political representatives of the UDA.
Speaking to more than 2,000 UDA members in the Rathcoole estate on the northern outskirts of Belfast, Mr Kirkham said the group would be committed to working towards a day when there was no longer a need for a UDA.
The news follows a decision by the Northern Ireland Secretary, Paul Murphy, to recognise the group's ceasefire from tomorrow.
