"We want to have a co-operative and harmonious interaction with our southern neighbours and we want to develop better relationships North/South and east/west." This was straight talking from the Democratic Unionist Party's Peter Robinson in Killarney on Monday - and all the more welcome for that.
He was the first unionist to attend and address a meeting of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body. Together with today's visit to Dublin by the Duke of Edinburgh it indicates that these relationships are indeed changing for the better at official level.
Mr Robinson made it clear that "none of the arrangements or structures to facilitate these ideals can be imposed or forced upon us". Along with his statement that "we want to co-exist in Northern Ireland with those who share our homeland", his speech was a significant contribution to developing better North/South relations. It comes as the DUP and Sinn Féin, the largest parties in the Northern Assembly, prepare to participate in its reconvened sessions. According to increasingly blunt warnings by the Irish and British governments they must decide whether to re-establish the power-sharing Executive by November 24th or face indefinite suspension.
On the evidence of this speech the DUP - or at least that element of it represented by Mr Robinson - is approaching the task with good will and in a way which deserves serious reciprocity. The impression is bolstered by the party's demand that corporation tax in Northern Ireland be reduced to 12.5 per cent, in line with the Republic's, to enable its economy revive on a fair, competitive basis, with less reliance on subsidy from the British exchequer. There is a growing understanding that a durable political settlement can enable both parts of Ireland to benefit from economic co-operation. Yesterday's announcement that a group of Northern businessmen is to establish a £150 million all-Ireland renewable energy investment fund bears out the impression.
The Belfast Agreement's political architecture gives east/west relations potentially as much prominence as North/South ones. So far this has operated most obviously at the highest inter-governmental levels. But the bedding down of devolution within the UK has deepened other political relationships, giving the inter-parliamentary body more scope. The growing normalisation of British-Irish relations can be seen in many different spheres of everyday life - in travel, retail, sport and popular culture. Prince Philip's visit to Dublin today reminds us that a political settlement will be choreographed symbolically. Can Queen Elizabeth be far behind?