Tuesday marked a seismic shift at Westminster, as MPs who had largely steered clear of devolved matters in Northern Ireland voted in favour of liberalisation of our abortion and same-sex marriage laws.
Amendments on both issues, which remain highly sensitive and contentious in the north, were tabled by Labour MPs Conor McGinn and Stella Creasy.
Not only did both amendments pass, they secured overwhelming majorities - 383 to 73 to legalise same sex marriage and 332 to 99 in respect of extending access to abortion.
These were significant and decisive majorities, on a free vote, showing that Westminster is now taking more interest in the affairs of Northern Ireland and is frustrated at the lack of progress to restore devolution.
The votes also send out a message to the DUP, which may have expected more support for its position from its friends on the Conservative benches.
And while the party has railed against these latest developments, there is a school of thought that it would be politically useful for same-sex marriage in particular to be resolved by Westminster before devolution returns.
There is no doubt attitudes in society are changing. We have seen that starkly illustrated in recent referenda on the same topics in the Republic.
However, while the votes on Tuesday were decisive in terms of the support they received, the path ahead is less clear cut.
Neither amendment automatically changes the law. That would only happen if Stormont has not been restored by October 21.
These votes should therefore concentrate the minds of the political parties engaged in the talks and it is essential that careful consideration is also given to the views of our main churches.
Unfortunately, there is no great sense of optimism that we are even close to a deal at Stormont. If anything, the atmosphere has soured of late and little is expected to happen until the autumn.
By then, of course, there will be a new prime minister and the looming Brexit deadline, not to mention the RHI inquiry report which is due later this year.
The Commons has now imposed a new deadline, October 21, which sends out a signal that it is prepared to act in the absence of devolution.
There is much to think about but ultimately, it should be locally elected representatives taking the important decisions that impact on so many lives.
