Compromise-minded Former United States Sen. George Mitchell, chairman of the Northern Ireland peace talks, found the peace process tough going.  PAUL McERLANE/AP

How the Peace Was Won
The red-eyed men who brought a settlement to Northern Ireland

A week is a long time in Irish politics. Not so long ago, the 22-month old peace process was bogged down in the kind of sectarian standoff that, depressingly, crops up all too often in the island's history. William Gladstone, the 19th century British Prime Minister whose 60-year career foundered on the rock of Home Rule for Ireland, once wrote "If we ever worked out the answer to the Irish Question, the Irish would change the question." Recently, U.S. Senator George Mitchell has been feeling Gladstone's pain. "No political culture of compromise exists in Northern Ireland," he said. "Peop le expect that it's either their way or no way."

In the early days of April, it was still no way. While the promise of spring erupted in blossom all round Stormont, the negotiating table rhetoric remained decidedly frosty. "I would not touch that agreement as it stands with a 40-foot pole," said Ulster Unionist deputy leader John Taylor after his first encounter with the 65 closely-typed pages of Mitchell's draft accord. Outside, Taylor told TV crews that Mitchell had a "five percent chance" of success. Nationalist negot iators were more optimistic, but no one was running out to place bets on a deal being brokered within days, even weeks of Mitchell's Good Friday deadline.

Fast-forward to Thursday, and the talks have been swept. . . (continued)