Heh... and that wasn't even really the start, that was a re-stirring after a long lull.
The news from N. Ireland has been steadily-increasingly hopeful for a few years now, so I can believe this might be, if not the end, then a major landmark along the way. At one time I was convinced that there was too much of a culture of conflict and hostility for there to be much hope. From what I've seen, the impetus of change came from way down in the grassroots - women sick of seeing their fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons injured, killed, or jailed; teenagers who'd made friends across the orange/green line and didn't want to fight those friends, etc - I've deeply admired those grassroots activists for some time now.
Sunflower
It also helps that the economy in Ireland, both parts, has picked up in the last 10 or 15 years. Of course I don't think Ireland had ever really tried to shoot itself in the foot unlike some other places of perenial conflict.
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