Susan McKay samples opinion in south Armagh, where the British army watchtowers still loom large on the hilltops.
Driving from the South into Culloville, you only know you're in the North at first because the road gets worse and there are Tricolours on the telegraph poles. Talk of North and South is confusing round here - Culloville in the North is to the south of Castleblayney in the South. The restaurant in Culloville is called Break for the Border. The pub has a poster for last weekend's Make Partition History rally in Dublin.
"It's a great move the IRA has made," says a man eating his lunchtime sandwich outside the garage. He's a republican, he says. "There was some in south Armagh reluctant, and some thought it would never happen. But you have to go with the majority. This is the way forward," he says. "It's the only way. It is up to the two governments now. The unionists have always had the upper hand and now Catholics are getting even; they don't want to let go."
An elderly man walking his dogs agrees the IRA's move is for the best. "But still these unionists aren't satisfied. They don't seem any different to what they were. They don't seem to want normality. Time only will tell."
Nearly everyone approached seems to share these views. "It's great news," says a young woman with a baby in her arms. "You mightn't want to talk to me, though. I'm only here 10 years. I don't think it will change much around here. The big change happened with the ceasefire. I think we'll have stalemate for a while. Paisley's reaction was completely predictable. He is so negative. It's as if he doesn't want the province to get back to normal."
Just two years ago, a young local man, Keith Rogers, was shot dead in Culloville during a confrontation with other locals. Rogers was only 24. He'd been 15 when the IRA declared its ceasefire. Yet he was an IRA man, apparently on a punishment mission.
Veteran IRA man Brian Keenan gave a fierce oration at his funeral, denouncing felon-setters for treachery and claiming the young volunteer had died for "the struggle".
The priest said it was time to recognise that after 30 years the conflict was over.
These are the black hills that Patrick Kavanagh wrote about, but while there's poverty still, no doubt, there are plenty of gaudy mansions now in the bogs of Armagh. No doubt most of this wealth has been legitimately gained, but there are also businesses under the scrutiny of the North's Assets Recovery Agency.
Behind Culloville, on the road to Crossmaglen, the British army watchtowers still loom large on the hilltops. A helicopter flies in low and noisy over the village, and a foot-patrol of armed British soldiers trudges past the housing estates. Most of the flags are for the GAA, but the square is dominated by the stark monument to the glory of the "humble heroes", who suffered "for your unselfish and passionate love for Irish freedom".
A young man in a baseball hat says peace is good, but the IRA should have held on to some of its guns. "If the war starts up again, they're f . . . . .," he says. A community worker says locals won't be joining the police "any time soon".
A woman sweeping out her shop said Monday was a great day. "We thought the Troubles would never end. Now all we need is for the unionists to settle down and get around the table. But, sure, if you gave them the whole of Ireland they wouldn't be satisfied."