"WE ARE taking Harryville out of the equation of areas that will have to be policed this summer. Canon Sean Scully was explaining why he and his congregation had decided there should be no Mass on Saturday evenings in the Catholic church outside Ballymena until September.
He and they know the decision may be seen as a victory for the loyalist demonstrators who have picketed the church for more than 40 weeks. But they hope, in Father Scully's words, that if we can make a gesture of this kind in our community, others in Northern Ireland will do the same".
Some people have questioned the wisdom of the decision. Typically, the Rev Ian Paisley has suggested that numbers attending the church were badly down and people were being bused in to swell the congregation. But the general reaction, particularly from unionists, has been one of admiration and gratitude for an act they recognise as generous and brave, precisely because there were bound to be people who would say that Father Scully and his parishioners had been forced to give way to loyalist pressure.
RUC Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan welcomed "a sincere and genuine effort by the congregation to reduce tension". James Currie, the Ulster Unionist mayor of Ballymena, who has visited Harryville to express his solidarity with the Catholic congregation, spoke of "a great move which will give people time and space to think about the issues". They hope Father Scully's announcement will encourage other groups to be that bit braver, less inclined to cower behind their own tribal parapets.
At a time when the overarching political arguments seem as polarised as ever, it is important to give credit for the good deeds on both sides in a difficult period. Last weekend three Orange marches passed off peacefully when the marchers accepted RUC restrictions. Robert Overend, the deputy grand master of the Orange Order, appears to have managed a difficult situation at Bellaghy with considerable dignity.
THERE have been other signals that the leadership of the Orange Order is anxious to avoid confrontation this year, even if its spokesmen have not yet shown the generosity expressed by Father Scully. Attempts by the grand master, Robert Saulters, to meet the concerns of residents' groups, the fact that senior members of the order travelled to Dublin last weak to meet Bertie Ahern, the proposals that have been put forward for a compromise on Drumcree in the Belfast News Letter all these are developments which would not have happened in previous years.
It would be easy to be cynical about this, to point to the dire warnings of the business community and others about the catastrophe of another Drumcree. But equally it is possible to argue that the situation has changed in Northern Ireland in a way that provides some light amid the gloom.
At the political level these changes are obvious, so much so that we are in danger of taking them for granted. There is a new chief constable of the RUC, Ronnie Flanagan, who is committed to making his force acceptable across the community. The energy and splendid humanity of the secretary of state has the power to kindle hope.
Perhaps she cannot resolve the problems of the marching season, but Mo Mowlam's efforts at least show that someone is in charge who wants to help people to understand each other better and may even persuade them to talk to each other.
BUT THERE has been another, more important, level at which change has occurred. The experience of peace, even for 17 months, has had a profound effect on people, shifted their attitudes in a way that could be irreversible. Deep sectarian bitterness remains in sections of both communities, rooted in past suffering and exacerbated by present fears, but there is no appetite for a return to the violence that preceded the 1994 ceasefires.
Peace gave people a glimpse of what life could be like in Northern Ireland and although the mood is fearful and insecure in both communities, nobody wants a return to the days when one dreaded turning on the news in the morning in case six, eight or 10 people had been blown to bits. Those 17 months gave them back physical security and the precious, simple pleasures of everyday life.
But peace also gave many people space to think about how the conflict had started and what they might do to ensure that it did not return.
In recent months I have heard it said again and again by leaders on both sides, those formerly associated with paramilitary organisations as well as the constitutional parties, that there is no support for a return to conflict. This was one of the main fears expressed at the time by those within the IRA who were opposed to the Hume Adams initiative, that once the campaign was wound down it would be difficult to crank up renewed support for it.
This is not to say that the IRA is unable to recruit young and committed volunteers. All the evidence suggests that it can still tap these resources. But broad community support for a long terrorist campaign with little prospect of success would be much more difficult.
I was struck last Sunday by how muted the mood was at Sinn Fein's gathering at Bodenstown. The timing, within days of scenes of weeping children at the funerals of the two policemen murdered in Lurgan, underlined the ghastly contradiction between Tone's ideals of uniting Protestant, Catholic and dissenter and the reality of a squalid, divisive conflict in the North.
There have been comments about the marching bands and young girls shouting IRA slogans. My impression was that people felt defensive and fearful about the future. I have been at many similar occasions over the years and Martin McGuinness's speech was notably devoid of the militaristic rhetoric that in the past has sent many a Republican crowd happily home to Belfast. Like Gerry Adams, he knows the community that voted for him in the recent elections does not want a return to the violence and isolation which preceded the IRA'S first ceasefire.
We all know well that the North faces a tense and difficult period. Renewed violence, the political arguments over decommissioning and the run up to the marching season all contribute to a growing pessimism. But even if the news is bleak in the weeks ahead, we should not underestimate how greatly both communities have been changed by peace. It is just possible their resilience and their determination not to let that peace slip away may get us through Drumcree and on to a safer road in the autumn.