The fire, brimstone and ritual hurling of graceless, personal abuse, which characterises so much of politics in Northern Ireland, is not Alliance's style. This is the most mild-mannered of parties.
Other politicians might rally the troops by firing so many withering epithets at the opposition. In Alliance speeches, the First and Deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland are Mister Paisley and Mister McGuinness.
At the party's conference on Saturday at a comfortable country hotel in Antrim, there was a slight but discernible difference in mood across the age range of delegates.
Among the older members, the party's recent electoral success generated a pleasant buzz. The younger ones - and there was a significant number - while unfailingly polite, are clearly determined that the "shared future" Alliance promotes is a realistic vision for Northern Ireland.
The election of Anna Lo in South Belfast made headlines throughout the world when she became the first person of a minority ethnic background to gain a seat in the Assembly. At this, her first conference outing since the election, she brought a touch of celebrity to proceedings, which clearly delighted the crowd.
While Lo's election is often cited as an example of how things are changing in Northern Ireland, the depressingly familiar is never far way.
The conference took place amid an escalating row that pits Lo against a loyalist flute band and the British National Party (BNP). The BNP is rallying to the cause of the flute band which has objected to Lo writing to them on behalf of a constituent asking that local residents are better informed of future parades. The band is now threatening to extend a parade later this month through an area of Belfast which has a significant Chinese community.
Lo has pointed out this will be perceived as an attempt to intimidate both her and the local Chinese community, and has asked the band to disassociate themselves from the BNP. To date, she has been ignored.
Alliance deputy leader Naomi Long is regarded by many as a rising star at Stormont. She combines a fresh-faced earnestness with the plain-speaking style of her east Belfast roots.
She is a civil engineer who admits she grew up believing politics was the problem in Northern Ireland, not the solution. From barely scraping through in her first Assembly election outing, she won her seat on the first count in March, polling just 52 votes behind the DUP's Peter Robinson and well ahead of UUP leader Reg Empey.
Like Lo, she was in big demand among the party faithful on Saturday. She told delegates she thought there were pages missing from the copy of the programme for government produced by the Executive a few weeks ago. "Seventeen pages by 12 Ministers, two junior Ministers and a cabal of special advisers, with the back-up of their departments. That averages just over a page per Minister in the 11 months since the St Andrew's Agreement. And this from an Executive which is lecturing the public sector about efficiency."
Under Northern Ireland's power-sharing arrangement, the Alliance's seven Assembly members form the bulk of opposition to the current Executive. The financial impediments they face were obvious on Saturday. Black plastic buckets were routinely shaken under delegates' noses and most were happy to donate to the party coffers.
A "shared future" for Northern Ireland might still seem like a pipe dream but for all the mild manners, the Alliance has found new punch.