Jim Culbert has worked at Harland and Wolff for 27 years. On Tuesday, he was one of thousands of workers who downed tools and marched on the glitzy Hilton Hotel in Belfast to try to find out what the future holds for them.

They fear the worst. The great shipyard is once again under threat and could be closed by Christmas. The present crisis revolves around a £400 million contract for two drilling ships which the yard is building for a US customer, Global Marine. Yet beyond this contract, the future is bleak, with no orders in the pipeline.

There was a time when Harland and Wolff symbolised Northern Ireland's industrial tradition. In the 1950s, it employed more than 20,000 workers. Now the workforce is down to 2,000.

Like Verolme in this State, and the shipyards on Clyde, Harland and Wolff is a victim of economic circumstances. It is cheaper to build ships in South Korea.

Over the years, the British government has pumped millions of pounds into the Belfast yard. A large part of the reason was political. With its exclusively Protestant workforce, Harland and Wolff was seen as a potential threat.

Those days have also gone. The company now has fair employment practices and recruits in schools on the Falls Road. Even so, there is little chance of more government cash for the yard. EU regulations would almost certainly prevent it.

This is cold comfort for Jim Culbert and his workmates. This week the main focus of the media's attention has been on the political talks at Stormont. There has been very little about the plight of the shipyard workers who face being on the dole for Christmas.

Nothing could illustrate more poignantly why Northern Ireland's parties need to take social and economic responsibility for running the area. Local politicians have been involved in the discussions about Harland and Wolff but the relevant decisions will be taken by British ministers.

I have argued very often in this space that the present negotiations require almost unlimited patience. I still hold that view. Both sides do need time to bring their relevant constituencies with them.

Yet Northern Ireland also needs a return to local political accountability if it is ever to reap the economic benefits of the peace.

There are hopeful signs this week that a breakthrough may be imminent which could lead to a resolution of the decommissioning impasse. The elements of such a deal have been well rehearsed - a form of words from the IRA that its war is indeed over; choreography designed by Senator George Mitchell and Gen John de Chastelain which will allow the executive to be set up, together with a degree of certainty about the timing of decommissioning.

We also know the difficulties which still lie in the way of securing that settlement. David Trimble may be personally persuaded that the republican movement is ready to make the historic move into politics but he has to communicate that confidence to the unionist community.

It may be that Peter Mandelson will be able to help reassure them, for example, by offering some comfort on the alleged insensitivities of the Patten report. But at the end of the day, it is the Ulster Unionist leader who will have to jump.

The same is true of Gerry Adams, who has to convince the republican community that politics can work, that taking part in an executive does not constitute betrayal. Recent arms seizures and arrests in this State have provided a salutary reminder that there are still young - and not so young - people on both sides of the Border who believe that anything short of a united Ireland is too little, and that the only way to achieve their goal is through violence.

The politicians who are burning the midnight oil at Stormont have brought us a very long way. Each community entered this process from a position of mutual mistrust and, as important, lack of understanding of the other's experience.

Chris Patten described the experience of listening to hundreds of people at the public meetings to take evidence for his report on policing very vividly. He said that "Northern Ireland has two stories to tell and both need to be heard".

That requires not only time but a willingness to listen. In recent days much has been made of the improved "mood music" at the talks. A greater courtesy has been evident in the way party spokesmen and spokeswomen refer to each other. It's easy to sneer at this as merely cosmetic but civility is the basis on which a working relationship can be built. Building trust will take longer.

In the meantime, the politicians will learn to work together and that may prove to be a lot more rewarding than any of them expect.

Earlier this week, I quoted the late Brian Faulkner who told me that for him one of the most satisfying aspects of the 1974 executive was to discover that there were people in the nationalist community with the political skills and vision of John Hume. The possibility may seem remote at the moment but we could yet hear the same sentiments expressed by David Trimble and Gerry Adams - about each other.

Peter Mandelson has stressed the need for patience in the talks. The Northern Secretary has also spoken of the opportunity which now exists to "map out the series of steps and changes capable of achieving an unbreakable peace".

That peace will offer Northern Ireland's politicians the opportunity to practise what is sometimes described as "ordinary politics". They will be able to focus, for the first time in many years, on the social and economic issues which affect the lives of their constituents.

The possible closure of Harland and Wolff will be debated in the Assembly as a crisis demanding the urgent attention of all parties.

I have been told by those who have been watching developments at Stormont over the past year that Northern Ireland's politicians are hungry for power. That is an extremely hopeful sign. It is also quite proper. Northern Ireland should have its own locally elected politicians running its affairs.

Even allowing for the need for patience, let us hope it happens sooner rather than later.