Sinn Féin's weekend ard fheis in Dublin reflected the party's significant growth on both sides of the border over recent years.
In the north, Sinn Féin has edged in front of the SDLP in the contest within nationalism, while in the south the party's presence in the Dail rose from one TD to five after the 2002 general election.
Another striking symbolic development, illustrating the party's move to the political mainstream came on Saturday when, for the first time, Gerry Adams's presidential address was televised live by RTE.
Mr Adams and his colleagues in the packed hall will not have forgotten that well into the 1990s their voices were still completely banned from the airwaves.
His contribution was as carefully measured as ever and his comments about envisaging a future for republicans without the IRA were a clear nod in the only direction which will allow wider progress to be achieved.
Mr Adams gave little away on the crucial issue of northern policing which, with key negotiations unfolding over the coming weeks, was only to be expected.
However, those who believe in the rule of law and order in all parts of Ireland can only have found the content of and reaction to the speech of Kerry TD Martin Ferris to be particularly chilling.
Mr Ferris loudly demanded the immediate release of the group of prisoners known as the Castlerea Five, who were convicted of the 1996 manslaughter of Garda Jerry McCabe in Co Limerick.
His words were greeted with roars of approval, the clapping of hands and the stamping of feet, without the slightest regard for the feelings of Garda McCabe's wife and family.
There can be no room for doubt about the gravity and brutality of the crime carried out in cold blood by the Castlerea Five in the quiet village of Adare.
They shot Garda McCabe dead and seriously wounded his colleague, Garda Ben O'Sullivan, without hesitation, at a time when the officers posed not the slightest threat to them, during a sordid attempt to steal money being delivered to a post office.
The IRA, in a blatant lie, swiftly denied any part in the robbery despite firm and over-whelming evidence to the contrary.
A subsequent statement, issued after the perpetrators were arrested, eventually conc-eded a possible IRA link, but insisted that the raid had not been officially sanctioned.
After their conviction, all pretenses were set aside and the Castlerea Five sought and were granted all the privileges, with one exception, extended to prisoners recognised by the IRA as authorised members.
That exception was freedom under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, and the five men remain as inmates of Castlerea prison.
If the IRA had accepted its involvement in the Adare outrage from the start, we would now be dealing with a very different set of political circumstances.
After the series of cynical untruths which were put forward by that organisation, it can hardly complain in moral terms about the unsympathetic stance which had been followed by the Irish state.
Ironically, the fact that the British govern-ment has already released all those convicted in connection with the murder of RUC officers before the Good Friday Agreement may well ensure that the Castlerea Five do not serve their full terms.
Such an outcome would be much easier to contemplate if the IRA sent out an unequivocal declaration about its forthcoming intentions.
This means that, despite all the weekend rhetoric, republicans effectively have the keys to the gates of Castlerea prison within their own grasp.
