Like the conflict in Northern Ireland, the peace process has the distinction of being one of the longest-running processes both in the time required to reach an agreement and in the time required for implementation of that agreement. This article analyzes the peace process from the perspectives of elite negotiations to community relations and in between in order to determine how each of these peace processes within the overall peace process contributed its longevity and overall success. The distinction that peace is made from the top-down is contrasted with the notion that it cannot succeed without social preparation through bottom-up, or middle-out initiatives; concluding with analysis of frameworks that attempt to capture the entirety of the peace process and what its success means for the study of the Northern Irish peace process and peace processes in general.