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THE OPENING of a large hole in Belfast’s Cromac Street last weekend was a worrying omen, right enough, especially with the peace process stalled again. But it could have been worse. Imagine if that underground “air-pocket” had opened up a few hundred yards east of where it did, causing the collapse of another Belfast thoroughfare: Hope Street. The psychological damage to the North might have been permanent .

I often passed Hope Street during my tours of duty in Belfast, being, as it was, just around the corner from The Irish Timesoffices. It was a short street and, even more ominously, it came to a bad end, at least from an architectural viewpoint. Even so, it was always reassuring to see the sign. That there was an evangelical church on the corner, with a billboard offering advice on how to reach the promised land, added to its aura of optimism.