There is a time-honoured political dictum: "There go the people; I am their leader; I must follow them." For years, many politicians in Northern Ireland had these words engraved on their hearts. Even the most bleak and cynical pessimist would have to acknowledge this has changed at least a little bit. In Mr Albert Reynolds's favourite phrase, the parties have begun to "take risks for peace".
Mr Reynolds has another phrase he likes: "Who's afraid of peace?" The answer is probably nobody, but everyone is afraid of failure. The prizes in the peace process are great, the penalties unthinkable.
Little wonder, then, that the process often appears so hesitant, like a foal learning to walk. For every two steps forward there is at least one step back.
Thus, we were meant to have intensive talks this week. The parties were to shift into a higher gear, beavering away at Stormont like a newly-established peace factory utilising its government grant to the full, identifying areas of agreement and isolating points of difference.
It got off to a promising start. There was a busy round of meetings on Monday and the word was that the encounter between the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP had gone quite well.
Then on Tuesday, the best known figures on the UUP side decamped to London to meet the Prime Minister. Nationalists felt deflated. Dark mutterings about the unionists not wanting to engage or to take the talks seriously began to be heard.
Thursday's meeting between the Taoiseach and Mr David Trimble gave the process a fresh injection of hope. The two leaders may not have emerged waving a peace treaty to the cheering crowds but it was clearly one of the more positive encounters between the Government and Ulster unionism.
But, as one seasoned talks participant put it: "Every hope has to be tinged with caution." Nobody knows what may be around the next corner and there are still many in public life and in the shadowy recesses of the paramilitary and security worlds who want the process to collapse.
Fears of an IRA split, with the breakaway group launching a new military campaign, have begun to recede. There is widespread scepticism about the level of support the dissidents claim to enjoy. Nor is it clear whether those who have left intend to go back to war or, as one observer put it, "take out a subscription to a satellite sports channel".
Speculation that a close relative of a famed republican hunger striker was about to denounce the "doves" in the leadership has so far failed to materialise. It is said that one of the dead hero's parents intervened to ensure there was no breaking of ranks.
Nevertheless, there is clearly nervousness on the republican side. The slow pace of demilitarisation is causing problems with their followers. There is a feeling that the Dublin administration has lost some of its edge, combined with a worry that the Government might go that little bit too far on Articles 2 and 3 because of its anxiety to draw the unionists into a settlement.
It's true that the unionists want nothing whatsoever to do with republicans. They would be perfectly happy to conclude a deal with the SDLP and never meet Sinn Fein. However, there is a feeling among talks observers and participants that face-to-face engagement between Sinn Fein and the UUP is inevitable. After all, if Mr Blair can meet Mr Gerry Adams, and even invite him into Downing Street, then why not the UUP?
Senior British government sources are optimistic about the progress of the talks. They believe Mr Trimble is keen on a settlement: the internal arrangements will not be a problem, the difficulty remains on North-South relations. The final package may be such that even Sinn Fein can live with it - like the Scottish and Welsh nationalists they may see it as a means to an end.
London seems to be genuinely at a loss over what to do about Bloody Sunday. The wrong decision here could throw the process into convulsions. So, too, could a bomb in the wrong place at the wrong time, although Mr Trimble's refusal to be diverted by Markethill steadied a lot of people's nerves.
The concept of "equality of allegiance" espoused by the SDLP leader in his conference speech could prove the key to a settlement. Unionists will balk at any suggestion of joint sovereignty but if it were possible to give Mr Hume's concept practical effect without subverting the wish of the Northern majority to remain British, then a solution could be in sight.
This coming week, the talks will focus on Strand One, covering internal arrangements in Northern Ireland. The Framework Documents envisaged that any new assembly would have some of its key decisions subject to veto by a three-member panel elected by the whole population. Now this idea seems to be receding as the notion of sufficient consensus takes hold in the talks: this means that decisions must have the support of a majority in both communities.
Decommissioning will also be discussed next week but the teeth have been well and truly drawn from this issue which snarled the talks for so long. The week after next, a full or plenary session of the talks, set to last three days, will review progress and plan the next phase of the negotiations.
Although relations between some of the talks participants are still quite frosty, the more the process continues the more a thaw is setting in. A loyalist delegate said people were getting used to seeing each other on a day-to-day basis. The worst of enemies may yet become the best of friends.