"It is perfectly obvious we have stretched our- selves remarkably in the circumstances. It is also obvious that there is a limit to how far we can stretch ourselves without an adequate response being made." David Trimble.
Saturday's result could hardly have been closer and the immediate Dublin response showed a recognition of the truth of what Mr Trimble said at the Waterfront Hall within minutes of emerging with his 53.25 per cent vote to go back into the Northern Ireland Executive.
The Taoiseach spoke in Dublin about an hour later and strongly praised Mr Trimble's courage and commitment. He immediately called on the IRA to stick to its commitments on weapons. He reminded it that the "confidence-building measure" of opening some arms dumps to inspection announced over three weeks ago was supposed to happen "within a matter of weeks".
Then he mentioned the more fundamental IRA promise "that the IRA leadership would initiate a process that would completely and verifiably put IRA arms beyond use". After such a close result, Government sources were conscious that it would take just 60 Ulster Unionist Council delegates to call yet another meeting, and that a lack of IRA progress on weapons by, say, the autumn, could bring disaster.
However, some Government sources were nevertheless taking an optimistic view. "A week ago he would have clearly lost," said one source. "Trimble pulled it around in seven days. Now the show is back on the road, normal politics can begin again, the whole agreement can be bedded down and there are still three years to go to the next Assembly election."
The optimism is based on the hope that as the Executive and Assembly begin to work again, the power-sharing institutions will begin to be seen as part of the normal political landscape. It was easy to countenance their suspension on February 11th last after just two months of operation, this argument goes. But if they can run for a long, uninterrupted period they will not be suspendable again, and Ulster Unionists will no longer regard their participation as conditional and possibly temporary.
Once the final detail of RUC reform has been published and is advancing steadily through the House of Commons, there will be no opportunity to raise new objections that strike a chord with UUC delegates, this view goes on.
But the most important ingredient for a long, uninterrupted run of the institutions is real progress on the IRA weapons issue, and it is here that Dublin involvement may yet prove crucial. Mr Trimble won on Saturday on the basis of assurances to his party that he believed the IRA would do what it has said it would do in relation to weapons. Dublin knows Mr Trimble needs to be able to point to IRA delivery of its promises.
A Government source said it did not know exactly when the two international inspectors - former Finnish president Mr Martti Ahtisaari and former ANC general secretary Mr Cyril Ramaphosa - would return to continue their work. However, it would be "at an early date".
The Government will use its well-developed relationship with the republican leadership to push for fulfilment of the republican commitments. Mr Trimble firmly pointed to the danger on Saturday after the vote, telling a press conference no new preconditions were being set, but that existing promises must be kept.
Meanwhile, Dublin sources express mystification at Mr John Taylor's statements that he has received some new, secret assurances from London and Dublin on the future of the RUC that allowed him vote Yes on Saturday. The Taoiseach said on Saturday he had had no conversation with Mr Taylor since the Hillsborough breakthrough on May 5th. Asked about these claimed assurances from Dublin yesterday, one official remarked ironically: "I look forward to hearing about them."
The legislation putting the Patten report on policing into effect begins its second stage debate at Westminster on June 6th, and the final detail of what will happen to the name of the police service will emerge as the legislative process continues through the summer. It appears widely accepted now that the RUC name will appear in the title deeds of the police service in the legislation, but not in the working title, which will be Police Service of Northern Ireland, as recommended by Patten. In addition, the RUC foundation commemorating the contribution of RUC officers over the past 30 years will be established.
There is also continuing speculation that the final police badge may be more to the Ulster Unionists' liking than originally thought. While the current badge of a crown sitting on top of a harp will go, a new badge incorporating a crown or some other unionist-friendly symbol may yet emerge.
Significantly, Dublin says it is making no representations on the issue of whether the Union Jack should fly over public buildings in Northern Ireland on particular days. "It's a matter for the Northern Ireland institutions, a test of the maturity of the Assembly and Executive", says one source. Should they fail the maturity test, a final decision can be made by the Secretary of State, Mr Peter Mandelson.
There will be no ceremonial restoration of the institutions: they will get down to business again with the minimum of fuss. There is still a question over whether the DUP will become involved again, or if it will remain outside the Executive in the hope of seizing the leadership of unionist anger should the IRA default on its commitments. Mr Ahern remarked on Saturday he was pleased the DUP had participated first time around, and that he would like to see it back, adding wisely: "I am not too sure anything I would say would persuade them one way or the other."
The Government hopes the restoration of the institutions will this time create an irreversible momentum. Tonight, powers are formally restored to the institutions; on Thursday, the Executive and the Assembly's business committee meet; this day week the Assembly meets; on June 16th the North/South bodies meet; and various sectoral North-South meetings will take place before the summer break.
The institutions are, the Taoiseach said, "back up and running . . . We are very happy today but we are also very conscious that in this ongoing process that there will be problems to overcome, difficulties to iron out but we are back in business".