All eyes in Shorts pub in Crossmaglen swivelled towards the TV as the IRA statement was announced yesterday afternoon. It was raining outside and the Tricolours which hang all over this IRA heartland drooped slightly under the weight of heavy showers. "We will just have to wait and see", said one man who seemed lost in thought as he sipped his glass of Guinness.
The pub is owned by well-known local republican Paddy Short. His daughter, Margaret, a teacher based in England, had come over for a few days to look after the pub.
"People around here probably feel that the IRA have thought long and hard about this, they have not come to this position lightly", she said. "But there is the feeling that we don't want to go back to where we were. We will never be trampled on again."
She talked about life in Crossmaglen, the constant whirr of helicopters, the soldiers on the streets, the intimidation by police officers. All over south Armagh, otherwise known as "Bandit Country", observation towers protrude from misty mountains, wooden IRA signs are nailed to lamposts, soldiers stumble through fields and out from under hedges.
A masked IRA man with a machinegun peers down from a sign which reads "Don't worry, be happy, welcome to Crossmaglen". Another one declares "Demilitarise. Brits Out".
In the local bookies, two men sat with their arms folded behind the counter, checking dockets and taking money. They were tight-lipped at first.
"Cross" people do not say much, the older man explained. "But I'm thinking what will be the next hurdle?" the younger man said suddenly as horses galloped around the racetrack on the TV screens. "What will the unionists want next?"
Anyway, said the older man, giving up guns did not mean anything. "Sure you can't decommission brains", he said.
"And they won't be getting lorryloads of guns either, the guns haven't been used this past two years", said the younger man, returning to his newspaper.
An elderly woman, hurrying home with her shopping, said she thought it was very good of the IRA to decommission.
"They are nice people, they have never caused any trouble around here. If they want to give up the guns, it is up to themselves", she said.
A source in the local newspaper, the Examiner, said that what was needed now was "clear skies over south Armagh and the uprooting of the observation posts".
In Shorts bar, as the newscaster continued giving details of the latest decommissioning breakthrough, Margaret Short described the mood in Crossmaglen as cautious.
"We have never really seen any improvement here, despite the agreements and the peace process, so no one expects anything much", she said. "Secretly, though, everyone hopes that something will happen now, because if there is no hope, what else is there. We need a gesture from the British and we need one soon."