MR John Major's government made it home with a majority of one in last night's House of Commons vote on its handling of the BSE crisis. At the end of a day long debate MPs rejected a critical Labour motion by 303 votes to 302.
All nine Ulster Unionists joined the DUP, three SDLP MPs and North Down's Mr Robert McCartney in the Labour lobby against the government. The South Down MP, Mr Eddie McGrady, was "paired" with a Conservative member.
The narrowness of the government's majority undermined the fragility of Mr Major's position at Westminster and will reinforce Dublin fears about his capacity to act to revive the Northern Ireland peace process.
The nine Ulster Unionists kept government whips guessing throughout the day, finally making their decision just an hour before the 10 p.m. vote. As forecast in last Saturday's Irish Times, Mr David Trimble, the UUP leader, voted against Mr Major over the government's refusal to hasten Northern Ireland's emergence from the EU beef ban.
Throughout the day UUP MPs pressed their case for agreement on a certified herd scheme and the start of an accelerated cull in line with the Florence agreement.
But it became clear that the Scottish Secretary, Mr Michael Forsythe, effectively blocked any concession to Northern Ireland farmers which would place Scottish farmers at a disadvantage. Ministers argued to the end that the government could not agree the accelerated cull without European assurance that it would swiftly lead to the lifting of the ban, even though they faced the possibility of a Commons defeat.
The Northern Ireland MPs reacted with dismay after the Agriculture Secretary, Mr Douglas Hogg, acknowledged that ministers had not yet submitted "detailed working papers" to try to secure a lifting of the ban for certified BSE free herds, fed mainly one grass, in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, appealed to the government to adopt a regional approach and push Northern Ireland's case first in an attempt to have the ban lifted.
Mr Paisley told the House that 1,300 cattle in Northern Ireland were waiting to be slaughtered under the scheme. If the government moved on this, the animals could be killed. It would then be possible to push for a partial lifting of the ban. "All that is standing in the way now is these 1,300 animals. Surely the government should proceed with that," he added.
Winding up the debate, an Agriculture Minister, Mr Tony Baldry, insisted a selective cull had not been ruled out.
But while last night's vote was determined by the beef issue, the ,suspicion remains in Irish, SDLP and Labour quarters that the UUP were happy to take the opportunity to "flex their muscle" in advance of an expected British restatement of their attitude to the talks process, and the vexed question of the conditions for Sinn Fein's participation in it.