Against all the odds, and the expectations of many, there was an agreement on Good Friday last year. The mood in the days leading up to the final deal was negative and bleak. The first inkling that it was all turning out right in the end came early on the morning of Good Friday when Lord Alderdice, then leader of the Alliance Party, announced with disbelief written all over his face that it looked as though there was a deal.
This time around, the noble lord is again a player in the drama, but as Initial Presiding Officer of the Assembly and not a party leader. He is due to start off at 10.30 a.m. the proceedings of the Assembly which will eventually lead to the running of the d'Hondt procedure for nominating ministers.
The mood swings were at least as wild yesterday as in the lead-up to Good Friday. The confidence on the nationalist side was not matched by unionists. A member of the liberal wing of the party said it was a pity that, with the implementation of the agreement so close, Mr Trimble had still not been given enough to make the deal "saleable".
The day began with expectations that the Prime Minister would try to pull a rabbit out of the hat for the UUP leadership. But in the eyes of some unionists at least, the creature which emerged was more mouse than rabbit.
Mr Trimble said his party would study the amendments carefully. But he highlighted the narrow time gap between amendment and enactment, claiming this reflected the fact that the whole process had not been "properly thought through."
Reports from London indicated that the British government might be resigning itself to the idea that Mr Trimble could not deliver his party at this stage. At last the famous Plan B was beginning to materialise: it was nothing more than "Try again in September."
Sources close to the UUP leader have been saying for some time that he personally wanted to see the executive formed, but was deeply uncertain about his ability to bring the party with him at this point.
On the Sinn Fein side of the house there was anger over the details of amendments to the legislation which were seeping through from London. The British government was pandering to unionism, republicans charged.
Mr Gerry Adams told the media of his objections to the proposed changes but gave no indication he was about to lead his party out of the process. Wild talk about taking the issue to court was quietly kicked to touch by the Sinn Fein leader. He also paid an ironic compliment to Mr Trimble for his expertise in playing the "Orange card".
The politicians were tired, people said. They needed a break. A nice rest and then back like giants refreshed in September. As with the cross-Border bodies and the restructuring of government departments, more time was needed to secure agreement.
There was some excitement at Stormont when news came through that the Secretary of State had finally "triggered" d'Hondt. Like David Trimble, the man who devised this mathematical formula was an academic lawyer. Triggering d'Hondt could be an academic procedure too, if the prophets of gloom were proven correct. The process would have to be gone through, but only as a precursor to initiating a review of the agreement. Mr Trimble would have to refuse to nominate ministers in order to secure that review.
A review would mean the parties meeting to discuss ways around the current impasse. The old see-saw of unionists seeking further concessions from London while Sinn Fein resisted with might and main would continue.
The first item on the agenda at the Assembly today will be the Democratic Unionist Party's motion to exclude Sinn Fein from ministerial office. While some brave UUP souls predicted the DUP would not get the full 30 signatures needed to have the motion debated, the general expectation was that since they already had 29 names, this would not be a problem.
Up to an hour had been allocated for an introductory speech by the DUP leader. Mr Adams would have an equal amount of time to answer the Rev Ian Paisley, and the debate would continue until approximately 5.30 p.m.
At that stage, nominations for ministerial posts would be requested. The tide was flowing against the team of 10 being named by this evening. But nobody was entirely ruling out the possibility of another one of those sudden changes in atmosphere so typical of the peace process. Today will see either the gradual waning and death of this phase of negotiations and party point-scoring, or a determined attempt at reviving the process in a last-ditch effort to create a government.
The balance of expectation last night was that Mr Trimble could not do it: if he did, it would be yet another surprise from one of the most unpredictable politicians around. Suspicions remained that the last few days had been an elaborate game, aimed at putting the "No" camp off its guard. At the last minute, Mr Trimble would walk into the chamber with a list of nominations under his arm.
Should the nomination procedure fail to be completed, there will undoubtedly be nationalist anger. London will be damned by Sinn Fein for bowing to unionist demands; the SDLP will be more restrained but will not trouble to hide its disappointment.
But, political factors aside, even the nationalists would be glad of a rest.