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• An incomplete peace
• Hume: 'A new future'
• Trimble: 'Still no sign of spring'
• Delay will 'reinforce dark doubts'
• Related stories and sites

OSLO, Norway (CNN) -- The leader of Northern Ireland's largest Roman Catholic party spoke of "a new beginning," while the head of the main Protestant political group warned of "dark doubts" that could threaten Northern Ireland's peace accord as they accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on Thursday.

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John Hume, leader of the Catholic Social Democratic and Labor Party, and David Trimble, head of the Protestant Ulster Unionist Party, were awarded the prize for their efforts to end 30 years of sectarian bloodshed in the volatile British province.

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The two men helped push through a groundbreaking agreement in April aimed at resolving differences between Protestants who favor British rule, and Catholics who want Northern Ireland united with the Irish Republic.

An incomplete peace

In their acceptance speeches, Trimble and Hume said the prize was for an incomplete peace.

The accord has yet to be implemented, with Trimble insisting he won't let anti-British Irish Republican Army supporters join a new government for Northern Ireland unless the group starts to disarm. The peace accord calls for the IRA and other paramilitary groups to disarm by mid-2000.

"It may seem strange that we receive the reward of a race run while the race is still not quite finished," Trimble said at the Oslo ceremony.

"We do have a peace today in Ireland. but it is still something of an armed peace," he said.

Hume: 'A new future'

The agreement "opens a new future for all in Ireland," Hume said. "It is now up to political leaders on all sides to move decisively to fulfill the mandate of the people."

RELATED AUDIO

Listen to John Hume's comments on the Northern Ireland peace agreement 298K/25 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

Hume quoted another Nobel laureate, U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., saying "we shall overcome," in regard to remaining hurdles for the peace accord.

He credited other leaders from Europe, the United States and Canada, as well as "the ordinary people" of Northern Ireland, for achieving what he called "our springtime of peace and hope in Ireland."

Trimble: 'Still no sign of spring'

Trimble, however, referred to the disagreement over the decommissioning of weapons and said: "Now winter is here and there is still no sign of spring."

RELATED AUDIO

Listen to David Trimble discuss what the people of Northern Ireland want 204K/18 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

The establishment of a multiparty administration under the terms of the accord, originally set for October, has been delayed by the disagreement over disarming paramilitary groups. Trimble has insisted the IRA begin laying down its weapons before its political wing, Sinn Fein, takes any seats in the assembly.

Trimble has hailed the peace accord as "a watershed in the political history of Northern Ireland," and on the eve of the prize presentation denied that the peace process was in trouble.

Delay will 'reinforce dark doubts'

In his acceptance speech, however, Trimble hinted that the process could be derailed if the paramilitaries do not start to disarm soon.

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"Any further delay will reinforce dark doubts about whether (the IRA's political wing) Sinn Fein is drinking from the clear stream of democracy or still drinking from the dark stream of fascism."

Trimble added that all those involved in the peace process must keep realistic goals.

"What we want in Ireland is not a utopian society but a normal society," he said.

"We have started and we will go on. and we will go on all the better if we walk rather than run. Sometimes we will stumble but this will not matter," Trimble said.

The Nobel Peace Prize is presented every year on December 10, the anniversary of the death of its benefactor, Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. It includes a 7.6 million Swedish kroner ($950,000) award and a gold medal.

Hume, 61, and Trimble, 54, accepted their awards before about 1,000 people, including Norway's King Harald V and Queen Sonja, at the Oslo City Hall.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.