Now for the Vote

STORMONT, Northern Ireland: The politicians have done their job; now it's up to the people. Since none of the parties involved actually signed anything, today's agreement was less a binding deal than a codification of proposals that will be put to a referendum in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, tentatively scheduled for May 22. "The issue is now less whether the parties accept the proposals, but whether the voters accept them," says TIME London bureau chief Barry Hillenbrand. Parties that opt for opposition after studying the proposals would have to persuade the electorate to vote against the deal. The brokers of today's proposals are hoping that there's sufficient moderate consensus among voters in both Northern Ireland and the Republic to isolate the rejectionists on both sides.