Times have changed in Northern Ireland and Dunloe Ewart's Mr Noel Smyth was keen to convey that message this week. The chairman of the all-Ireland property company said he firmly believed the peace process would last and that paramilitaries had put away, if not given up, their arms for good.

And he was not amused when it was suggested to him at a press conference that Dunloe Ewart should "bomb proof" the buildings that form its multimillion pound Lanyon Place complex in Belfast.

Any architect suggesting such a drastic course of action for Dunloe's next building would be fired, Mr Smyth added.