Keith, When the Independent Monitoring Commission - Northern Ireland's ceasefire watchdog - issues its seventh report today, the political focus will be on the pages that tell the story of the IRA. This is part one in a two-stage process which the British and Irish governments hope will lead to a restoration of the political institutions. The report will examine the current position of the IRA They were suspended three years ago amid allegations of IRA intelligence gathering inside the Northern Ireland Office. A second IMC report - its more important assessment in this phase of monitoring - is scheduled for January next year. By then, six months will have passed since the IRA statement of 28 July when it ordered an end to its armed campaign and promised to complete the decommissioning process. That has now been done to the satisfaction of General John de Chastelain's Independent International Commission on Decommissioning. But Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party wants absolute proof that the IRA has gone away, that all paramilitary and criminal activities have ended and that the organisational structure which made those activities possible has been collapsed. The October IMC report will be read for what it has to say about so-called paramilitary punishment attacks, intelligence gathering, recruitment, training and matters of this kind All of that, in such a tight time frame, is a lot to ask for. Current security assessments would suggest that the IRA Army Council is still in place and that its financial structures are intact. But this is an early assessment. There is a security view that the IRA is continuing to discuss its future shape; the next phase after its July statement and September decommissioning. The October IMC report will be read for what it has to say about so-called paramilitary punishment attacks, intelligence gathering, recruitment, training and matters of this kind. What do the trends show? Is there evidence that these things have been switched off? By and large the answer will be yes. The commission will also acknowledge that "significant" decommissioning has occurred. But it is the scheduled January assessment that will be read for answers to the biggest questions - those questions about the structure and intentions of the IRA. Will it confirm that the IRA has gone away? Will it confirm that the orders of the 28 July statement are being obeyed? And will it confirm that all activities have ended? 'Too soon' Some believe the January IMC report has been put on a "very high pedestal" - that in the real world, even January is too soon to make definitive assessments. The pages of Wednesday's report from the commission will tell the story of continuing loyalist violence - including murders linked to the feud between the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Loyalist Volunteer Force. But there is another story going on behind the scenes in this community. That feud has gone quiet. The last killing was on 15 August and clergy and community figures are still working to bring a formal end to this latest in-fighting. If that can be achieved, then the LVF could move to issue a statement it prepared last December - a statement standing down its paramilitary organisation. This would have been its response if the DUP and Sinn Fein had reached a deal back then and if the IRA had moved to end its activities and complete the decommissioning process. The republican organisation has now done those things and the LVF's planned response is back on the agenda. Loyalist violence will be discussed in the IMC report But it will only happen if that feud with its loyalist rival, the UVF, is formally closed. The UVF and the linked Red Hand Commando are also discussing the future of their organisations. This debate pre-dates the feud, but the internal discussions have not yet been brought to a conclusion. The talking is focused on a three-page document and on questions about the future role of the organisations, continued recruitment, how they are viewed within the loyalist community and the issue of dialogue, including the question of talking to republicans. All of this has been drowned out by the noise of the gunfire of that feud and recent attacks on the security forces - both the police and the army. However, behind the scenes there is some work going on to silence the guns, to re-focus loyalism and to somehow get it re-involved in the peace process. Can it match what the IRA has said and done? Keith the Provisional IRA has ended it's campaign, it's clear you haven't ended yours !