Did we ever really think that it would happen in this way and in our lifetime? That Dr Ian Paisley would be comfortable within his soul sharing power with Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin? That this First Minister would aim to build "a Northern Ireland in which we can all live together in peace, being equal under the law and equally subject to the law".
The mood in Stormont yesterday was relaxed as well as solemn, good-humoured as well as serious. Dr Paisley and the Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, looked forward to a peaceful and co-operative future in the light of a divided and violent past. Their tone and body language was as positive an augury for the future of Northern Ireland as the impressive pledge sworn by all the incoming Ministers in the restored Northern Ireland powersharing Executive.
The historic ceremony did indeed do "a power of good for optimists everywhere", as the outgoing British prime minister Tony Blair put it yesterday. It is a time to record, even during a general election campaign, that it would not have come to fruition without the unique dedication and negotiating skills of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. They showed a confidence, in Mr Ahern's words, that conflict was not inevitable, nor peace impossible in this most intractable confrontation.
Mr Blair and Mr Ahern paid tribute to their predecessors who made this historic day possible: John Major, Albert Reynolds, their colleagues Peter Hain and Dermot Ahern.
There were others, too, who should enjoy the sunshine of this morning. This is the biggest political project of our generation of Irish leadership and John Hume built it. He convinced Gerry Adams that Sinn Féin could achieve more from politics than from paramilitarism. Seamus Mallon was a big player also. There were many diplomats and civil servants whose life stories will be marked by the steps in peace process, Dr Martin Mansergh and Seán Ó h-Uiginn, former Irish ambassador to the US, being just two very special people to mention. The late Mary Holland is the outstanding journalist who dedicated her working life to Northern Ireland.
Normal democratic politics has been installed in Northern Ireland to replace direct rule from London. The Ministers sworn in yesterday will govern most aspects of its society and are accountable to the restored assembly and its committee system. The many North-South executive and political links put in place by the Belfast Agreement of 1998, alongside the East-West ones, are reactivated.
Nine years may seem a long time to arrive at yesterday. But, put in perspective, it a short time in a centuries-old problem. The omens are good because Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness seem to recognise the realities. We cannot celebrate this new dawn on the island of Ireland, however, without acknowledging the 3, 722 lives lost. We record them today.