A temporary media village was being created. Scaffolding hammered into place, tents and marquees being built around it. There was also talk of constructive work inside the building but the detail was hard to pin down.
The mood, like the weather, was unsettled. "Groundhog Day," was how Gerry Adams viewed proceedings, "deja vu all over again". But it was doable, he said.
"We have been here before," agreed Tony Blair in a separate interview. "We have done it before, and we can do it again."
"Endgame," said Seamus Mallon. Only a one-in-50 chance of success, said John Taylor.
Big day at Stormont today.
Yesterday, we were waiting for the general, as in John de Chastelain, but he didn't come. This prompted much speculation. This was a good thing because Sinn Fein was going to provide the type of commitment about IRA disarmament that could allow David Trimble shift his position on the formation of an executive. Or it was a bad thing because there wasn't going to be a commitment.
David Trimble's deputy, John Taylor, wasn't optimistic. The chances of a deal were 2 per cent, no better, he speculated.
Party colleague Ken Maginnis, who recently accused Mr Taylor of treachery against his leader, at first appeared impressed with this prediction. "John Taylor has always been much better at percentages than I have been," he told reporters, pausing skillfully before adding, "much better at getting them wrong."
The level of discussion between the central players so far is being portrayed thus:
David Trimble: "No guns, no government."
Gerry Adams: "No government, no guns."
And all this against the background of impending Drumcree Mark V. No wonder people are gloomy. Normal people think about holidays at this time; in Northern Ireland there are political crises and parades crises.
A group of officials, parents and children representing the trade union, business and voluntary sectors arrived with banners proclaiming, "We Still Say Yes" and "Compromise and Give Our Children a Better Future".
They handed in letters to all the parties urging them to do a deal. Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern came out to chat and David Morrow, aged 8, asked Mr Blair, "Are you going to bring us peace?"
"If everybody inside had the same view as you, then we would work this out," said Mr Blair.
He was wrong, of course. Everybody inside does want to bring peace. The problem is, some of them have diametrically opposing views of how to achieve that goal.
Gerry Adams also spoke of the moral imperative of resolving this political deadlock for the sake of the children. Both he and Tony Blair were surprisingly optimistic, saying the deadlock could be broken. It was clear that that optimism will be translated into cheerful reality only by hard decisions by Gerry Adams and David Trimble.
Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern said they'll be here at Stormont as long as it takes, or until they know the irreconcilable cannot be reconciled. That's round midnight tonight, according to Mr Blair's deadline. We may have an idea then whether it will be all right on the night.
