'I wish to God Gerry Kelly was a Prod." This rather desperate desire was expressed by an elderly resident of the Glenbryn estate in north Belfast. He and his wife were interviewed for a timely and disturbing report on the BBC's Newsnight programme on Tuesday, the very day that David Trimble and Mark Durkan were finally elected as First and Deputy First Ministers of the Stormont Executive.
The couple are unionist, but not particularly political. They are both frightened and deeply distressed by the appalling sectarian bitterness which is now a part of daily life in north Belfast. The man conveyed very eloquently the sense of confusion and abandonment which is felt by a whole swathe of the Protestant working-class community.
They look at Stormont and see the traditional political leadership of their community divided into loudly quarrelsome factions. Very few unionist politicans have any inclination to involve themselves publicly in the hideous mess which surrounds the children of the Holy Cross School - though to be fair to David Trimble he did last week hold belated talks with loyalist paramilitaries and community leaders. We have yet to see any tangible reults.
There is no visible leadership on the ground which begins to compare with the presence of Sinn FΘin in the nationalist community. The situation appears to be controlled, if that is the word, by the UDA. But the political representatives of that organisation, the Ulster Democratic Party, has no seats in the Assembly and no clout in the new dispensation.
Gary McMichael, who played a constructive part in the negotiation of the Belfast Agreement, is rarely seen on our TV screens. The UDA ceasefire has been declared officially not to exist. The organisation has become increasingly involved in racketeering and sectarian attacks on Catholics. In this vacuum, the grievances of the loyalist community has exploded on to the streets of the Ardoyne.
Even from the point of view of those living in the area, the daily protests directed at the children and their parents are wholly counter-productive. These people are now seen across the world as ugly bullies who vent their spleen on little girls.
Most shades of political unionism have sought to distance themselves from the community. At a purely practical level, I am told that Protestant families who can leave the area are moving out, thus bringing about the very decline in their community which loyalist demonstrators are trying to avert.
None of this is intended to excuse the protests outside the Holy Cross school or the attacks on Catholic homes. But we must recognise that this situation is a microcosm of the challenge which now faces all the parties in the restored Executive, nationalist as well as unionist.
What has happened at Stormont over the past week has been enormously important for the peace process. The brave decision by the Women's Coalition to redesignate its members persuaded (or perhaps shamed) the Alliance Party to follow suit. David Trimble and those in his party who want the agreement to work have had to accept that they will continue to be dependent on unlikely allies. That hasn't been easy. Think of Fianna Fβil.
The pro-agreement parties have asserted their common ownership of the peace process and that will make it easier for them to work together in the face of opposition. But it would be wrong to dismiss the ugly scenes in the grand hall at Stormont as just a piece of theatre staged by the DUP.
It is true that Peter Robinson and Nigel Dodds will almost certainly resume their ministerial responsibilities. Like everyone else, I hope very much that when the political structures are seen to "bed down", much of the suspicion of the agreement in the broader unionist community will begin to fade away.
None of this, important though it undoubtedly is, will begin to address the fears of the people living in the Glenbryn estate and other places like it. There is a large swathe of the unionist community which feels completely alienated from the new political order. Their anger has been focused on the Belfast Agreement and, in particular, on such issues as decommissioning, the release of prisoners and the formal closure of the RUC.
But all these are symptomatic of a much deeper sense of exclusion and fears about the community's long-term future.
That is why they vote for the Rev Ian Paisley and will continue to do so unless steps are taken to bring them into the pro-agreement tent.
David Trimble recognised this quite explicitly on Tuesday. He appealed to the DUP to become full partners in the operation of the new political structures and conceded that the party represents a significant section of opinion "nearly half of unionists, which does not feel included."
There are serious political issues that have to be addressed here. They include the educational under-achievement of Protestant working-class children, questions of culture and economic investment. These present a challenge to, among others, Martin McGuinness and Sean Farren, who are responsible for education. It will take more than Gerry Kelly redesignating as a Prod to bring this community in from the cold.
mholland@irish-times.ie