The guns were silent; now they are visible to respected international statesmen. In the eyes of republicans and many nationalists the ceasefires of 1994 and 1997 should have been enough to ensure the setting-up of new governmental institutions with Sinn Fein participation.
The Ulster Unionists wanted more: there was still a gap of distrust. However, when the British Conservative government introduced the Washington Three demand for partial decommissioning in 1995, it was setting the bar too high.
In republican psychology this was tantamount to a surrender demand that would reinforce scepticism inside the republican movement, driving the Sinn Fein leadership back into the ghetto and delaying its tentative moves into normal politics.
Indeed, there is a widespread nationalist view that the Washington Three purpose was to split and disorientate republicanism, bringing about through political means what could not be achieved by the security forces.
The republican movement has now made a further gesture. The initial feedback from unionist circles yesterday was that it would buy time for Mr Trimble, he was safe now until the autumn. One would never expect unionists to venture too far into optimism about the future of a peace process they still regard with deep suspicion.
A more upbeat view is that there is now a process in place on the weapons issue. There will be a further arms inspection in a few months' time. The IRA interlocutor is back in contact with Gen de Chastelain. There is a commitment from the IRA to put weapons beyond use, and yesterday's events showed that, like them or loathe them, the republicans tend to keep their word. In the words of Mr Peter Mandelson, there is a "rugged honesty" about them.
Debate will rage about whether or not the inspection by Mr Ahtisaari and Mr Ramaphosa constitutes decommissioning. Clearly it does not, in the sense that the weapons remain under IRA control. In the unhappy and tragic event that the ceasefire breaks down, the two inspectors will not need to return to the dumps to ascertain that the weapons have been used.
There has been endless speculation about the location of the dumps, the nature of the inspections and the means by which the inspectors will know if the weapons have been used between now and their next visit. A small army of pundits at home and abroad has made a career out of talking knowledgeably about the IRA, but the reality is that this secret army does not give much away.
The might and resources of the British state, assisted by the security forces in the Republic and elsewhere, have succeeded only in gathering a limited amount of knowledge about the military side of republicanism: the many surprise "spectaculars" from the IRA over the years prove there is still a great deal they do not know.
Caution is advisable, therefore, before accepting any assessment of what is really going on. Mr Ahtisaari and Mr Ramaphosa are both highly experienced politicians: you would not take either of them for a fool.
Their report states that they consulted independent specialists who had previously participated in arms inspections in other countries; that the dumps held "a substantial amount of military material"; that they were satisfied with the level of co-operation from the IRA; and that they have ensured that the weapons and explosives cannot be used without detection in a future inspection.
Experts say there are methods of verifying whether a gun has been fired or not, and the Taoiseach said yesterday that "the bunkers will be sealed". There is no indication whether the inspectors knew the locations of the dumps they visited: one assumes their knowledge of Irish geography, especially remote country areas, is scant.
In any case, a former antiapartheid leader and the ex-president of a neutral country are hardly the kind of people likely to jeopardise their international credibility by passing information to the security forces.
It has been a tough seven weeks for the unionist leadership but, apart from one unfortunate soundbite, Mr Trimble kept his cool. When he was campaigning among delegates to the Ulster Unionist Council, he argued that the republicans should be "put to the test". After yesterday he has the right to feel vindicated; indeed, it was evident from the demeanour of leading unionists for some time that they were reasonably confident the IRA would "do the business".
How much more of a shelf-life does the decommissioning issue have? In part, this depends on broader political events. The low-profile Tory spokesman on Northern Ireland, Mr Andrew Mackay, seemed determined to keep the issue alive, although opposition figures do not always take the same line in government and there might be some in the Republic who would seek to use it for their own political ends.
The chances look better now for a successful functioning of the Northern institutions which in time could, just conceivably, diminish the importance of this issue which has clouded debate for so long.
Sinn Fein sources were very anxious last night to reject any suggestion that the idea of third-party arms inspections had come from the British government. They said the plan had emanated from Mr Gerry Adams who had negotiated on an almost daily basis with the two governments, beginning within a few days of the suspension of the Assembly and continuing until late on Sunday night.
The nervous peace which began with the first IRA cessation in 1994 now looks considerably more stable, but perhaps we are becoming too blase about what has been achieved and are taking too much for granted.
There were two remarkable sights yesterday: one was Mr Martin McGuinness taking questions from a sleepy Assembly on his education portfolio, as though he had been doing so all his life; the other was Mr David Trimble in the Middle East, deep in conversation with the Palestinian leader formerly reviled as a terrorist, Mr Yasser Arafat. Strange days indeed, but it may be the case that "we ain't seen nothing yet".