In Belfast, where "No Surrender" is the motto, the road to permanent peace today remains as cluttered with barriers as streets between Catholic and Protestant sections.
"We have been sold down the river," says William Johnson, 65, in a pub in the Protestant heartland. "The government is looking for a way out but this is just another hoax."
A few miles away, Catholics rejoice in the streets, waving orange, white and green Irish Republic flags and playing Irish music. Drivers honk their horns, traffic halts.
"Brits out," the signs say.
Thus the dilemma: While almost everyone connected to the Northern Ireland strife breathes easier at the thought of common sense replacing explosives, the mood is tempered by realities of the tough steps required to bring true peace.
"There is not going to be any quick fix or overnight solution here," says Jack Kilroy of Irish Northern Aid, a U.S. group that has heavily supported Irish nationalism.
Says John Hume, a Catholic moderate politician who helped bring about the cease-fire: "Now we face the primary challenge, to reach agreement among our divided people."
The strife - "troubles" to the Irish - date back to the 12th century English invasion. In 1800, Ireland became part of the United Kingdom. In 1920, Irish nationalists forced Britain to split the island, creating the 26-county Republic of Ireland in the south and six-county Ulster in the north.
After Ireland left the United Kingdom in 1948, nationalist spirit rose in Northern Ireland, fueled by Catholics. Protestants wished to remain under British rule. Conflict followed.
Finally, in 1969, British soldiers were sent to Ulster, launching 25 years of three-sided war that has left 3,168 dead and 30,000 injured. In July, 25 died - the worst one-month toll.
The last victim was Trelford Withers, 46, a part-time British soldier who was shot to death Aug. 8 in his butcher shop.
The cease-fire by the Irish Republican Army came after a month of rumors and cables, telephone calls and hard words between leaders of the IRA's political wing Sinn Fein, moderate Irish Republic and British politicians, and members of the Clinton administration.
When it all finally appeared possible last week, the process went into full gear:
-- On Sunday, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams told supporters a cease-fire was very close and they should prepare to cooperate. He also softened longstanding Sinn Fein demands.
-- On Monday, President Clinton overruled State Department objections and granted special visas to two top IRA activists to sell the peace plan to hardliners in the USA - who have long been a primary source of funds to the movement..
-- On Tuesday, Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds proclaimed peace efforts were "the best opportunity since partition" seven decades ago. Two IRA activists landed in New York to begin meeting with supporters. The White House hinted that an aid package would follow a legitimate cease-fire.
-- On Wednesday, the IRA announced a "complete cessation of military operations." British Prime Minister John Major said he was "greatly encouraged."
"We knew something was up," says Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., a leading congressional voice on Northern Ireland. "I had been led to believe, with the number of contacts increasing, that a decision was imminent on a cease-fire."
Immediately, the scramble to end the violence began.
On Friday, Clinton and Irish Foreign Minister Dick Spring will meet on Martha's Vineyard to discuss the peace process. Clinton is also ready to join a summit with Major and Reynolds in a show of resolve for peace.
In U.S. cities, IRA commander Joe Cahill - revered by hardliners for his role in founding the IRA - led Irish activists in speaking of peace instead of rebellion.
Cahill, 74, touring on a special U.S. visa, started in Hartford, Conn. He told Irish aid supporters the time to buy weapons is over. Their dollars now must go to the peace process.
"He is the figure that is the most highly respected by Irish-Americans and Republican supporters across America," says Irish aid director Kilroy.
But the future holds hard questions.
Political leaders may be nodding in hopeful agreement, yet those in the land of razor wire, surveillance cameras, thick-walled bunkers, street patrols and 18,000 soliders are the people who will have to make it work.
One militant group, the Ulster Freedom Fighters, which has been killing Catholics, warns it would not "sit back and allow ourselves to be coerced and persuaded" into trading a union with Britain for a united Ireland sought by Catholics.
The groups calls the cease-fire "a recipe for civil war."
In the past year the group and its sister, the Ulster Volunteer Force, have killed more than the IRA as part of a strategy to terrorize Catholics and wreck peace talks.
"Loyalist paramilitaries will try and draw the IRA back into the conflict by targeting Catholics," say Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, a Catholic activist wounded by Protestants in 1981. "We'll be paying for the cease-fire with our lives."
Last December, Majors and Reynolds announced a framework for peace that included a promise of no change without approval of a majority of Northern Ireland citizens.
Protestants still are the majority among the 1.6 milion in Ulster. But their edge is shrinking, to 57%.
One year ago, as the first signs of peace for the Middle East were breaking through, Northern Ireland was pegged as the next world trouble spot to be the focus of peace efforts.
In December, the Irish-British agreement was reached. In February, the Clinton administration granted Adams a U.S. visa, partly in hopes of getting him to renounce violence.
That bid seemed to fail. But members of Clinton's inner staff - from Vice President Gore to National Security Adviser Anthony Lake - continued to work quietly to pressure Adams and the British to come to the peace table.
Now there is another flicker of hope.
"Old people who have been through it all are saying to the kids: Grasp the opportunity," says Martin Somers, an Irish-American activist. "It's a chance . . . to control of your own destiny, to start again with justice, to do the right thing."
Bloody history
In 25 years of fighting in Northern Ireland, civilians have been the primary victims. Police blame the IRA for 60% of the fatal attacks. The death toll:
Total: 3,168
Civilians: 2,230(1)
British army: 445
Irish police: 493
This year: 56
Victims of IRA: 23
Victims of Protestants: 33 (1) - Includes guerrillas on both sides
