But one has only to look back, in the most cursory way, at the situation that prevailed in 1974 to realise, with gratitude, how utterly things have changed. The violence was at its height. The IRA was committed to securing British withdrawal from Northern Ireland. The unionist community was so deeply alienated by the Sunningdale proposals that the UWC strike of 1974, organised by loyalist paramilitaries, commanded widespread support among the Protestant middle class, including the civil service. In May 1974 Northern Ireland was facing a crisis where food supplies were running short, there was no gas, the sewage system was threatened and the telephone network was on the verge of collapse as power ran low.
Today there is peace, albeit imperfect, on the streets.
The political climate has been transformed. The republican movement has accepted the principle of consent and is committed to the political process. We may even see decommissioning, sooner rather than later. The unionist political community has travelled an equal distance. In the debate of the past few weeks the issue of cross-Border bodies, which seemed at one time likely to wreck the Good Friday agreement, has hardly surfaced.