Like Raymond, a 31-year-old Protestant from Dungannon, who said: "I'll definitely vote But I don't know which way I'd love to see peace. If I thought there would be peace, then I would vote yes." More confidently, Noreen Conlan, a 42-year-old community worker, declared: "It's the only way forward I'm a Catholic. But I think for the sake of the Protestants, we have to give some things up. Things are on the move."In five, 10 or 20 years' time, people in Northern Ireland may look back to these days of May 1998 and recall an historic breakthrough.
Or they may shake their heads at the naivete of those who believed that this time would be different from all the "breakthroughs" that preceded it.In the south, the script does not alter, but in Northern Ireland it changes every day, and the people are reinventing the ending as they go along.. For some Irish voters, the European yes vote is more of a wrench than the yes vote on the constitutional changes forced by the peace process, which most seem ready to assent to almost on the nod.In Ulster, the possibilities are illustrated in terms of road signs. "Yes" is the white arrow on a blue background - the only road to take "No" is shown as a cul-de- sac. In mixed (but divided) Dungannon, one Protestant woman declared: "They're selling us out to the 32 counties". With a remarkable insistence that everything is still up for grabs, she declared that if unionists vote no, Catholics may look for further compromises.
But nationalists and unionists feel they have compromised as much as they can, and a bit more.IN THE Irish Republic, this week's referendum on the peace agreement is combined with a referendum on the Amsterdam treaty - on the further strengthening of the European Union. And what would happen then?"David Trimble, once widely seen as Mr Unreasonable, now tries desperately to badger his fellow unionists into a yes vote. Posters in the mostly Protestant town of Portadown quote Trimble's much-repeated assurance: "The union is safe." Underneath comes the stinging retort: "So was The Titanic." The fear that the union can still be sunk is widely voiced. That would create negative feelings, from the people who voted against and feel excluded. Amongst unionists, however, only a third declared themselves in favour. In the south, the proportion of those in favour of the deal has risen steadily In the north, unionist support has dropped sharply. As one worried businessman from Athlone in the Republic noted: "My fear is a very positive vote in the Republic - and a weak majority in the north.
