The business community in the North has just one message for its political leaders involved in the latest round of talks over the Belfast Agreement, according to Mr Timothy Quin, president of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce.

"There cannot be prosperity without peace."

It is a simple message but it is one that the business community is hoping that politicians will embrace despite the current talks, which are taking place against a backdrop of uncertainty and unrest.

The Belfast-born president of the Chamber believes that the "market" will eventually dictate the outcome.

"The vast majority of people in Northern Ireland want to see peace, the will of the majority is peace and prosperity and politics must eventually reflect that.

"I would apply the same theory as we would in business to the situation, the market normally dictates the end product and the majority will dictate in Northern Ireland.

"I am optimistic because I don't think the present political impasse and the street violence we have seen which is a by-product of political failure, will last," Mr Quin states.

But he does acknowledge that there is an atmosphere of concern running throughout the North's business community.

"Realistically we have been through both the current political uncertainty and the escalation of violence year after year. The tension seems to heighten during the summer months but we have got through each year with a sense that we are getting a little bit further down the road towards a stable environment.

"I believe that most business people would still have that optimism. The trouble is that international press focusing on Drumcree and the recent street violence in Belfast plus the failure of politicians to reach any sort of accord, presents a very negative perception of the province and that has a damaging effect on business." He believes there are three main casualties of the current political impasse.

"The situation does not encourage potential inward investors to come to Northern Ireland nor does it help our exporters persuade their customers that there is certainty of supply from the province, where instability and violence are perceived to be rampant.

"Thirdly, and quite important is the way that it impacts on existing businesses. This situation tends to knock self-confidence. I think that throughout the 70s and most of the 80s there was a sense of an inferiority complex within Northern Ireland. "But I believe that the cessation of IRA activities and the Good Friday Agreement gave a boost to the confidence of this province and to business and that significantly helped us in achieving increased productivity and export sales." It is this sense of self-confidence, which he believes is most vulnerable at this time.

"It is important to have self-belief to succeed in business anywhere in the world and I think that we had seen a self-confidence emerge in Northern Ireland, particularly since the cessation of violence.

"I, like many people in Northern Ireland, am an optimist and that optimism is one of the reasons why we believe the current peace process will succeed, but everyone has concerns." The Chamber of Commerce in Northern Ireland has developed a reputation for plain-speaking when it comes to the political situation in the North; it is a tradition that sits easily with Mr Quin.

"The presidents that have preceded me have all had the determination to ensure that both politicians and the greater public are aware of the importance to business and to the prosperity of the province of having a stable environment politically and having an end to violence.

He believes the Chamber extends to all realms of commerce and industry and is essentially a Northern Ireland-based rather than being an all-Ireland based professional body.

"We are in a position where we can make and provide a very immediate assessment of the economic prospects for Northern Ireland. I want the Chamber to become the voice of business in Northern Ireland." A senior partner in Deloitte & Touche, Northern Ireland, he has seen at first hand the impact of 30 years of violence on the business community in the North.

Family tradition has also imparted a strong sense of social responsibility to Mr Quin. The Quin family have a long association with the accountancy profession in Belfast. Mr Quin's grandfather, Stewart Blacker Quin, passed the first exam set by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland to qualify as a chartered accountant in 1893 and went on to become president of the institute.

Mr Quin's father, Senator Herbert Quin, despite being blind for most of his life, took over the family business and was elected chairman of the Ulster Society of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

He also follows in his father's footsteps at the Chamber of Commerce, where Senator Quin also served as president in 1953.

But he has no misgivings in treading the same route taken by his father, if anything he sees it as a privilege.

"My life has centered around my profession for 25 years but I was always encouraged to believe that you should put something back of what you had received."