Once again there were so many questions in the air, centring on whether the hard men on both sides really could accept, after a quarter of a century of bloodshed, that it was all over.But as each death-free week and month has passed, confidence has grown that the peace will hold. When Gusty Spence, a one-time loyalist assassin of the Sixties, offered “the loved ones of all innocent victims over the past 25 years abject and true remorse”, a new tone was set.Even the double ceasefire was not enough to start a celebration. Others have simply reacted to the atmosphere, revelling in the fact that so many of the old tensions have drained away. Some saw the near-universal relief that it had stopped, and banked on that.There has been no single moment of celebration. The IRA cessation of terrorism last August was an electric moment, but was characterised by hope rather than euphoria At the time, it left many unanswered questions. Will it hold? Why have they stopped? Do they mean it?The loyalist ceasefire of October was another milestone. Some watch Gerry Adams’s progress in the United States and realise that a return to violence would sweep away his credibility and the new alliances he has forged.Some believe the inconclusive outcome of the bloodshed has driven home the lesson, the hard way, that there could be no real winners.

The fact that these goals are mutually exclusive illustrates the magnitude of the problems ahead.Given these bare facts, an outside observer could be forgiven for surmising that the peace process is balanced on a knife edge. The population, one might think, must be in constant fear and trembling that at any minute the guns will open up again. Yet on the streets of Belfast and elsewhere, the prevailing assumption among residents and the province’s many recent visitors is that the violence is probably over for good.There are many reasons why people have, by various paths, come to hold that view Some simply hope and pray that the violence will not return. Sir Patrick Mayhew, the Northern Ireland Secretary, has been giving dire warnings about the IRA.

He recently told an American audience: “It is still in being, still maintains its arsenal, is still recruiting, targeting and training, still seeking funds.”

There is little reason to doubt that this is so. The IRA, one of the world’s most dangerous and long-lived terrorist organisations, still has a fearsome capacity to kill and destroy; so have the loyalist groups that carried out so many assassinations while the troubles raged.
Furthermore, neither set of terrorists has been given guarantees that the peace process will lead to what they want, a united Ireland or firmer links with Britain. In print, the car ads that run in women’s magazines stress safety over power, air bags rather than engines.The trend is set to continue, as advertisers, with their agencies, continue to target the female buying audience. Not just at Saatchi’s but elsewhere in the advertising business, the executives huddled around the chairman’s desk look more likely to be Laing clones than Maurice Saatchi lookalikes.. Out, or on the wane, are scenes of happy housewives gamely cleaning kitchen floors. The new breed of TV adverts features bright, powerful women of independence running their own companies, as in the Kenco coffee adverts. Sectors traditionally viewed as being male-oriented, like cars and petrol, are being promoted in a “unisex fashion”, says Kate Bruges, who handles the Esso account at JWT.

That reflects important social changes – for example, the fact that more women are working and working longer.Ads on TV in particular are beginning to reflect a different approach. Ms Rubenstein says: “Agencies began to realise it was a great advantage to appoint people to the team who intimately understood their target audience”.Clients have been convinced too. Yet until quite recently, 80 per cent of it was created and developed by men. Roughly 80 per cent of television advertising is targeted at the female audience.