The relief in London, Dublin, Belfast and, doubtless, Tokyo, last night was palpable. There was no hint of victory or defeat; no wild talk of "breakthrough" achieved; no suggestion of another bit of history made.
Just relief - that a truly staggering weekend of diplomatic activity had resulted in agreement between the British and Irish governments, and the emergence, at long last, of an agenda for the Stormont talks process.
To the wider public who follow the detail of this process - as to those who can hardly bear the painstaking steps forward and back - the production of an agenda, the agreement on what is to be discussed, seems surely a very elementary affair.
But that it should have taken so long - and the devotion of such energy by both the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister, he in the middle of a visit to Japan - betokens the great gulf which divides the peoples of this island, and the sheer breathtaking ambition of this process.
Among that wider public one suspects there will be relief, too, at the confirmation - evidenced by the presentation of the heads of agreement at Stormont yesterday - that the two governments remain in the driving seat, discharging together their joint leadership role.
Events of recent weeks, and recent days, have not always shown them doing so - at any rate convincingly. And for a dangerous few hours last Saturday selective leaks and spins fostered the suspicion that London and Dublin might be pulling in opposite directions.
That was the clear "spin" on reports of a prior agreement between Mr Tony Blair and Mr David Trimble on the likely shape of a settlement. It was never more than that. That said, the leaks had an effect - providing the spur to the British and Irish sides to "fast track the fast track" and agree the propositions presented to the parties yesterday.
But it is only a beginning. As the two governments stressed in their accompanying statement, these are only propositions for discussion and debate. Moreover, "the various elements, taken together, offer only the outline of an acceptable agreement".
The immediate and obvious question is how acceptable they will prove to Sinn Fein. Late on Sunday night, it emerged that Mr Ahern was having difficulty persuading Mr Adams and his party to accept the emerging British-Irish text. The key difficulties related to the acceptance that there would be a Northern Ireland assembly, and the absence of the word "executive" to describe the nature and function of proposed North-South bodies.
Sinn Fein leaders last night said they would consider the proposals in light of their own analysis and their declared commitment to end the Union.
Central to their deliberations will be their assessment of how far Mr Ahern's Government has departed from the spirit and the letter of the Joint Framework Document and its commitment to a North-South body given the task of discharging "delegated executive, harmonising or consultative functions" over a wide range of issues.
It is clear that both governments have come to accept this would prove one step too far for Mr Trimble. And the word "executive" has been traded for the suggestion of "suitable implementation bodies for policies agreed by the North-South council".
Sinn Fein will also have noted the absence in yesterday's text of a specific commitment to changes in the British constitutional legislation governing Northern Ireland. But in their statement the governments said they had no difficulty clarifying that this meant "changes to Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution and to Section 75 of the Government of Ireland Act 1920".
The Irish Times understands that this represents one of the biggest departures, in declared intent, from the original British draft discussed by Mr Blair and Mr Trimble. That draft referred vaguely to a constitutional understanding underpinned by the principle of consent, but quite explicitly referring to changes in Articles 2 and 3.
Contrary to some reports, yesterday's text also makes it clear that there is no question of the North-South dimension being subordinated to the proposed inter-governmental council bringing together representatives of the British and Irish governments and devolved institutions in the United Kingdom.
Indeed some Tory critics of the process last night wondered if this provision effectively reintroduced the Framework Document provision of an override power for the two sovereign governments should they deem any part of the settlement not working or there to have been a breach of the agreement.
In their accompanying statement the two governments made it clear that the new British Irish agreement would "embrace" both the inter-governmental council and the North-South ministerial council each of which would "operate independently in their designated areas of responsibility". This again is a marked departure from the spirit of that early British draft which some feared (or hoped) envisaged a "Council of the Isles" as the umbrella for the new agreement.
In short, the three strands have been fully represented in this agreement. There has been no prioritising of the "internal" Northern Ireland dimension, and it seems clear that, whatever the changes in the language, the two governments are still drawing heavily from the Joint Declaration and the Frameworks. If it is not explicit, leading nationalists are absolutely clear that the exercise of executive power in the North-South dimension is fundamental to any overall settlement. The simple truth remains that without agreement in all three strands there will be agreement in none.
Mr Trimble last night had cause for satisfaction that both the Blair and Ahern governments have shown themselves more sympathetic to unionist concerns and interests than London and Dublin have done in the past. With all pinned on the principle of consent, the Ulster Unionists are confident that a united Ireland is not on the agenda and that the biggest pain in the settlement stakes will almost certainly be for republicans if they are to abide by an outcome which falls far short of their goal. For all that, there is plenty in yesterday's text to confirm that the pain of accommodation will be fairly widely distributed.
As the parties return to Stormont they well know that the devil remains where he always lay!