A quiet revolution is underway in the popular politics of Northern Ireland. Even while conventional battle lines seem to remain firmly drawn in the real world, boundaries are being broken down every day in cyberspace, as nationalists and unionists alike debate the latest news in online forums, and increasing numbers of outsiders gain a real understanding of the issues and tensions.

In this borderless context, NI unionists are discovering they share common ground with others in the republic. Discussions tend to break out of the historical framework of political discourse in the island: they talk about geopolitical tensions, economics and the merits of an independent civil society.

Even within the confines of Northern Ireland politics, tolerance and understanding are growing among some for each other's traditions, as Orangemen explain the social benefits their organisation brings to isolated protestant communities and GAA aficionados explain the roots of their passion for their own chosen sports.

In the case of my own website (sluggerotoole.com) readers can respond immediately with their views and interpretation of what that news means to them. It results in something that's more of a conversation or series of conversations than a dialogue. And it draws in knowledgeable individuals from all sides.

In such circumstances, cross-party friendships can flourish much in the way they might in the Commons or Dáil bar. Alex Kane, a political columnist for the unionist-oriented Newsletter : 'It includes people who are DUP, people who are republicans, people who are genuinely interested in politics as well as some who are quirky and certifiably barking. There's nothing I know of quite like it.'

Ian Parsley, one of the movers behind the politics-ni.com website notes: 'There's something impersonally personal about talking on the internet.'

And it breaks stereotypes: 'There's the idea in Northern Ireland that because somebody is a republican, a unionist or a nationalist, they must therefore think this, this and this. The advantage of online forums is that points have to be responded to by an individual rather than a party.'

Northern Ireland has been a hot topic on the net for nearly 10 years. For several years in the mid-Nineties the late Vincent Hannah, a BBC journalist, used an independent internet forum in conjunction with his weekly radio phone programme. However, the ball was most likely started rolling among the Irish diaspora in the US.

Julie Brown, who set up the Debate Central bulletin board after a visit to Northern Ireland in 1994-5, notes some particular changes that have taken place since those early days. 'In the beginning a lot of Americans tried to carry the republican message on the board.

These people were activists who were quite familiar with slogans but less familiar with the reality over there. Once the board was taken over by people who actually lived in NI, the Americans moved on.'

Increasingly for journalists and politicians, the internet is the research tool of choice. Danny Morrison, writer and former PR for Sinn Fein, explains: 'I've had a lot of stories inspired by trawling the net.'

And it multiplies the number of readers. 'If my stories appeared only in the hard copy of the Andersonstown News, then only people in West Belfast would see it. However, on the net within a space of hours it's being read and circulated in North America.'

And in turn influence can also move the other way, with journalists and politicians reading some sites on a daily basis. At least one major story originating on slugger emerged into the national broadcasting and print press via a local journalist.

For politicians it's probably most useful for flying kites, or taking soundings of how people outside their own constituency are likely to read their policy detail.

As one Alliance party insider pointed out: 'It may be that people actually like some aspect of your policies, but you discover that the problem is often with the presentation. On the net you get the feedback quickly and directly.'

Whether the internet can drive change out in the real world is open to question. After all, the technology is only just more than 10 years old, and in the case of Irish politics that time has coincided with some seismic events.

But as Frances Cairncross of the Economist has said: 'Most people overestimate the effects of change in the short term, underestimate them in the long term and fail to spot where change will be greatest.'

· Henry McDonald is away.