When loyalist gunmen set out to kill customers in a Catholic-owned pub in Poyntpass, Co Armagh, 25 years ago last Friday, they plainly hoped their appalling actions would drive the two sides of our divided society further apart than ever at a crucial stage.
They cruelly murdered Philip Allen (34), a Protestant, and his life long friend Damien Trainor (25), a Catholic, and managed to flee from the scene, but the consequences were not what the perpetrators expected, even before their subsequent arrest and conviction.
All sections of the community united in grief over the atrocity and, in a development which proved to have a wider significance, their most senior elected representatives also came together and forged new understandings.
In a powerful display of symbolism, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble and SDLP deputy leader Seamus Mallon travelled to Poyntzpass and jointly met the relatives of the victims.
The then secretary of state, Mo Mowlam, made the same journey, all helping to create the climate in which a breakthrough in the interparty negotiations at Stormont, which had seemed increasingly unlikely, began to take shape.
Within a matter of weeks, the Good Friday Agreement, which, despite being constantly surrounded by inevitable upheavals, completely transformed our political prospects, was signed.
It would be wrong to draw unduly close parallels with the occasion last month when leading figures from our five largest parties stood shoulder to shoulder with chief constable Simon Byrne at PSNI headquarters after the despicable attack on Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell in Omagh, but some comparisons can still be made.
While it is hugely regrettable that our power-sharing executive has been unable to function for over a year, there are plainly circumstances in which the parties can put their differences aside and work in the common good.
Just as the response to the Poyntzpass carnage displayed what was possible during one of the darkest chapters in our recent history, it can equally be hoped that the Omagh outrage may be followed by a period of progress.
However, it must always be remembered that the shooting at the Railway Bar resulted in the death of two hugely respected young men and caused enormous suffering among their relatives and friends.
Our primary sympathies need to be with the families of Mr Allen, Mr Trainor and more recently Mr Caldwell, who remains in a serious condition in hospital, and we must all demand that no further evil bloodshed takes place.
