At this writing it seems clear that a historic day is still in prospect for Northern Ireland - although not quite the one planned by the British and Irish governments. That does not matter in the general scheme of things.
The peace process has never been about timetables and deadlines. They have been the means to the desired end of a settled and stable Northern Ireland where both communities can realise the benefits of partnership and parity of esteem, and where politicians pursue their goals by exclusively peaceful methods.
Through the inevitable confusion of the weekend, it can be said with reasonable certainty that the endgame is now being played. As reported in this newspaper on Saturday, the Democratic Unionist Party has rejected today's stipulated deadline for the restoration of power-sharing in a devolved government. But, dare one say it, the resolution passed by the DUP's central executive would appear to leave little room for ambiguity since the party has committed itself to supporting and participating fully in a Northern Ireland Executive "on an agreed date in May of this year".
During the intense negotiations of the past week, the frustration for the Irish and British governments, and for Sinn Féin and the other parties, was that Dr Ian Paisley seemed to be forced to prioritise the interests of his party over the will of the people of Northern Ireland, as expressed in the Assembly elections so recently.
Party management, however, is hugely important in a delicate peace process - as the president of Sinn Féin Gerry Adams should be the first to acknowledge. And if the outcome of their manoeuvrings is that the DUP's collective leadership is strengthened in its purpose, then that can only add to the stability of a new adminstration in Northern Ireland when it is finally formed in May. The important thing is that we have a credible assurance now that it will be.
The real concern in recent days was that the DUP might be pushing for a new deadline which, in turn, might be washed away by internal party resistance or events beyond the DUP's or Sinn Féin's control. The fear of both governments was that if any "transitional" arrangement was to be regarded as an additional "testing period" for Sinn Féin, that by definition, would be conditional. In these circumstances, no confidence could be placed in any alternative date for devolution.
It would appear that in setting its own date for the commencement of devolution, however, the DUP has removed the element of conditionality. Perhaps as crucial, Mr Blair and Mr Ahern have seized the opportunity to leave the next steps for agreement directly between the DUP and Sinn Féin leaders. Dr Paisley and Mr Adams don't speak to one another. So, in a way that might not have been achieved by forcing today's arbitrary deadline, both the DUP and Sinn Féin have the opportunity now to claim ownership of the process. They will not be forgiven for playing party politics much longer.