Northern Ireland's seamen gathered in Belfast yesterday to remember the past, but most were also predicting a better future in the wake of Saturday's referendum result.
The annual commemoration of the Battle of the Atlantic included an enthusiastic rendition of God Save the Queen and, on the question of the Belfast Agreement, the congregation at the parish church of St George was singing in unison too.
Only one of those who spoke to The Irish Times said he had voted No on Friday, and he insisted he would not be repeating the protest in next month's assembly elections. "I voted against it because of the thing with the Balcombe Street gang," said James Taylor, a dapper veteran of the war in the Atlantic, "but I'm very happy to accept the result and I'll vote for the parties supporting the agreement next month. I think it will work."
Two former merchant seamen, who preferred not to be named, said they had voted Yes and believed many of those who did not would support the assembly for the sake of their children. "Most men here are in their 70s and 80s and, as far as we're concerned, it was a vote for the young ones," one of them said. "Let's face it, our generation made a horlicks out of this country. It's the young people's future we're thinking about now."
Stan and Martha McIlvenna also voted Yes and Stan thought the result "magnificent - the start of a wonderful process". There were still problems ahead, he conceded, "but there are powerful forces determined to make it work, including the two governments and a whole realignment of the political centre here. Trimble and Hume are the key players in it and they're going to drag everybody along in their wake, including Sinn Fein."
Another veteran seaman, Marcus Patton, said the result was a good start, "but there's a bit of work still to be done in persuading people it's not the end of the world. The opposition won't be as great next month, because I think some people voted No out of principle and now they've registered their protest, they'll row in. The good thing is the DUP vote is going down. They're looking more and more like dinosaurs."
A middle-aged woman who also voted Yes said many people she knew were converted to the No side by the scenes involving the Balcombe Street gang. "It stuck in my throat to see that and it almost made me vote No, but I didn't because I think there's no alternative to this agreement."
Describing herself as a Protestant who "went to school in the South but would have a British identity", she said she had envisaged a much wider agreement that the one which had emerged.
"To be frank, I thought we'd have a new national anthem and a new flag, and maybe even a change of the name of the country to Ulster or Ulidia or something. Instead there's none of that, but I'm all for an agreed Ulster that's acceptable to Catholics and Protestants alike."
Fergus Hanna Bell, a son of the writer Sam, was an enthusiastic Yes voter. "I thought the agreement was full of great common sense and I had no problem with any part of it. I'm a solicitor, so I would tend to be more relaxed about issues like prisoners, I suppose."
A long-time Labour supporter who now votes Alliance, he believed many of the No voters were motivated not by specific issues, but by an inability to believe that the paramilitaries' campaign was over. "In my opinion it is over, and I think the guns are going to rust."
During the service itself, the Rev Canon Ken Peters said he hoped "the massive vote in favour of further exploration of the peace initiative" would lead the people of Northern Ireland "out of darkness and into the light".