Talks sought on arms of N. Ireland rivals Unmoved In an Ulster town, hate still thrives Approval A resounding vote for Irish peace Reaction Around world, peace process seen as model The future Next steps in Northern Ireland peace process Most N. Ireland politicians hail ''Yes'' Boston's Irish are cautiously optimistic In the Irish voting, a Protestant factor Mike Barnicle It's a special dawn for John Hume, peacemonger 'I must do this for her' 'Education is the true liberator' Where it's too late for peace Prejudice from a pulpit: Paisley's grip weak Chronology The long road to N. Irish peace pact The process The long, bloody path to Irish peace 04/19/98 Belfast Accord reached 'New beginning' hailed Excerpts from Accord Honoring the dead 'through a fresh start' Past attempts Previous compromises in Northern Ireland Photo Gallery: Pictures from Belfast Saturday, May 23 The Irish Times The N. Ireland Office Sinn Fein Ulster Unionist Party Social Democ. & Labour Party Weekly Health | Science (Mon.) Food (Wed.) Calendar (Thu.) At Home (Thu.) Sunday Focus Learning Travel Real Estate Automotive Sunday Magazine City Weekly South Weekly West Weekly North Weekly NorthWest Weekly NH Weekly Features Archives Book Reviews Columns Comics Crossword Horoscopes Death Notices Lottery Movie Reviews Music Reviews Obituaries Today's stories A-Z TV & Radio Weather Classifieds Cars Classifieds Help Wanted Real Estate Help Contact the Globe Send us feedback Alternative views Low-graphics version Acrobat version (.pdf) Search the Globe: Today Yesterday Search the Web Using Lycos:

Most N. Ireland politicians hail poll ''Yes'' ELFAST, May 23 (Reuters) - Most of Northern Ireland's political leaders hailed a resounding ``Yes'' vote in the province's peace referendum on Saturday but a minority of Protestant hardliners vowed to continue their fight against the deal. Official results from Friday's poll showed that 71.1 percent of Northern Ireland voters had backed the peace agreement on a very high turnout of 81.1 percent. ``It is an endorsement of what we did on the negotiations and it is a very welcome acceptance by people,'' said David Trimble, leader of the biggest Protestant party and a leading ``Yes'' campaigner. From the other side of the province's political divide, Gerry Adams, leader of the Sinn Fein party which wants Irish unity said: ``People have taken a great leap of faith.'' ``What the electorate did was to sign up for a future, not a past,'' he told BBC television. Britain's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Mo Mowlam told a news conference that the province had ``voted to take the gun out of politics, north and south of the border.'' ``This agreement is supported across the whole community and in a majority of both (Protestant and Catholic) communities,'' Mowlam said. But leading ``No'' campaigners like Rev. Ian Paisley, head of the minority pro-British Democratic Unionist Party, were unconvinced. Claiming that a majority of Protestants had opposed the peace deal, Paisley told Reuters: ``I feel that what I said was right. We got the unionist votes.'' Most political analysts had said that a ``Yes'' vote of more than 70 percent would indicate majority support from Protestants, who make up about 60 percent of Northern Ireland's population. The Catholic minority is overwhelmingly in favour of the deal. John Hume, head of the Catholic SDLP party, said the vote showed Northern Ireland's desire for a harmonious future. ``The real question is: Is the violence over ? And I believe it is,'' he told the BBC. Trimble, however, said he wanted assurances that Catholic Irish nationalists would now keep their side of the bargain and hand in their weapons. Referring to Adams, Trimble said: ``I want to hear him say that the Republican movement will now disarm and disband the military machine, and I want to hear him say that there will be no return to violence in the future.''

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