After the sharp public exchanges of the past week, it was to be expected that both Irish and British ministers would accentuate the positive when they emerged from the Intergovernmental Conference in London last night. After some "straight talking" yesterday, both sides agreed to differ on the events of Drumcree and resolved to move forward.
This is the correct approach. At this stage, there is little to be gained from rehearsing the week old arguments about the role of the Chief Constable, Sir Hugh Annesley, at Drumcree. The focus must be on achieving two main objectives; reviving the faltering party talks process and ensuring real parity of esteem in Northern Ireland. After yesterday's six-hour meeting, there are tentative signs that progress can still be achieved on both fronts; so that - to use the term employed by the British Prime Minister, Mr Major, yesterday - the setbacks of the past week can be "turned to positive advantage".
There are clear signals from the conference that the main unionist parties will at last come under pressure to move on to substantive discussions. Mr Major's acknowledgment in the Commons, and again on ITN last night, that progress in the inter party talks has been inadequate, and his apparent determination to see the process move beyond the current procedural wrangling to issues of substance, is encouraging. Yesterday's observation by Mr Andrew Hunter, Chairman of the Conservative Party Backbench Committee on Northern Ireland, that British politicians underestimated the depth of national anger flowing from Drumcree is also significant and welcome.
The imperative to reassert what the conference called "the primacy of the political process" could hardly be stronger; yesterday's UFF bomb alert, which paralysed the centre of Dublin for over six hours, is a vivid reminder of the fragility of the loyalist ceasefire. And the continuing threat from republican paramilitaries was evident in the Enniskillen bombing and the seizure of bomb making equipment in London.
It is to be hoped that the British government will now follow through on their promise after yesterday's meeting, to give a new impetus to the inter party talks. Much will depend on the leadership shown by Mr Major, who must not allow his personal commitment to the peace process to be diluted by political exigencies at Westminster. Mr Major's task is to demonstrate firmly that further foot dragging by the main unionist parties at the multi party talks - and any further undermining of the Mitchell principles - will not be tolerated.
There is also the delicate political task of rebuilding nationalist confidence on the streets. The new procedures governing contentious marches like next month's Apprentice Boys' march in Derry may help. But there is much more to be done; the words of the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, during the opening of the inter party talks last month bear repetition; "Northern Ireland can only work successfully if it inspires an equal sense of ownership on the part of unionists and nationalists".
Both governments are wise to bury their differences and to concentrate on the task ahead. For, despite the terrible setbacks of recent weeks, it is still possible to attain the objective of a new, negotiated settlement, which will be endorsed by the great majority of people on this island. The prize of peace must not be allowed to slip from the grasp.