This book traces the genesis and evolution of the Irish Peace Process. The author argues that the Peace Process was the merging of two quite separate streams. First, there were inter-party talks which involved the British and Irish governments and the constitutional parties in Northern Ireland. Second, there was the inter-nationalist dialogue, initiated by John Hume, which gradually moved republicans away from violence towards the political arena. The Belfast agreement was a junction of these two processes, attempting a compromise between the center of unionist and nationalist politics.