As Mr Tony Blair's deadline is reached, the people of Northern Ireland and the island as a whole stand on the brink of a breakthrough which could lead to the establishment of normal structures of democratic government and a formal political relationship with the Republic. The negotiations to find an accommodation between the devolution of full powers to the Northern Executive and the decommissioning of paramilitary arms, continuing at this writing, still hold out the possibility that principle and pragmatism can go hand-in-hand after the midnight deadline.
As the politics of the island stands at the crossroads, it is worth recalling that 2,119,549 people - the total number of voters who supported the Belfast Agreement in the concurrent referendums, North and South, in May of last year - have mandated their political leaders to strike the honourable compromise that Mr Blair and Mr Bertie Ahern are seeking to broker. Furthermore, the chairman of the talks, Senator George Mitchell, looked those leaders in the eye in the White House on St Patrick's Day to warn that history would have forgiven them if they had not signed up to the Belfast Agreement. But, having done so, it would never forgive them for not implementing it.
The ebb and flow of information from Castle Buildings throughout yesterday make it difficult to get a hard read on the decommissioning deal still, hopefully, in the making. The postponement of General de Chastelain's report suggests that Mr Blair and Mr Ahern have negotiated concessions from Sinn Fein which were not available in the answers to the questions from the International Decommissioning Commission 24 hours earlier. There are rumours of movement from the Sinn Fein/IRA side on a timetable, for the first time, for putting their arsenal out of use. It remains to be seen, however, whether the start to the process can be sequenced in such a way to enable the setting up of the Northern Executive with powers fully devolved by September.
Reports from Castle Buildings in the run-up to the final deadline also suggest that Mr David Trimble is encountering some difficulties within his Assembly party about the timing envisaged by Sinn Fein. It is reported that he, and his colleagues, have made it clear to Mr Blair that the Executive can only "go live" simultaneously with the first tranche of arms being put beyond use. Both sides must be seen to jump together.
The continual spinning by both sides makes it impossible for commentators to decide whether that elusive deal, on the most protracted problem in the peace process from the start, is actually on the cards. What is clear is that these are the most realistic negotiations to date on the issue. They appear to circumvent the winners-and-losers scenario inherent in the Hillsborough and Downing Street declarations. Both unionists and republicans are being asked to compromise on key principles at the same time.
With the weight of responsibility resting on the shoulders of the political leaders overnight, they would do well to remember that time will erase the memory of who blinked first, where and when, provided that all are embracing the democratic principle that the gun is being put out of politics. At this critical phase in the history of Northern Ireland, time will record the actions of those leaders with the courage and foresight to take the necessary risks to ensure there is a new way forward. Drumcree is beckoning backwards at the weekend.