The chances of Lord Alderdice retaining his post as speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly have increased following last night's rejection of a motion of no confidence in him.
In his present, ad-hoc role as Initial Presiding Officer, he incurred the wrath of the DUP by accepting a motion to guillotine debate on North-South bodies and new government departments on January 18th.
After an all-day debate yesterday, a DUP motion of no confidence in him was overwhelmingly defeated. In his summing-up, the DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, asked for permission to withdraw the motion but this was denied by the Assembly.
The DUP remained silent when a voice vote was called. Other members voiced their rejection of the motion. Lord Alderdice, who had been temporarily replaced by Ms Jane Morrice of the Women's Coalition, then resumed the chair.
The DUP claimed a moral victory and the Rev Ian Paisley said the debate had achieved exactly what his party wanted by giving the floor to those who were denied their right to speak on January 18th.
Mr Dermot Nesbitt of the UUP rounded on the DUP, describing the party's motion as "farcical and time-wasting". And a statement from the UUP Assembly Group said: "Today's antics by the DUP are a publicity stunt. They are a distraction from the real issues that need to be dealt with over the next two months."
Mr Mitchel McLaughlin of Sinn Fein dismissed the motion as a "childish, school-boyish prank". The Alliance Party leader, Mr Sean Neeson, said the motion was a charade and that the January 18th debate should, in fact, have been curtailed much earlier.
Meanwhile, speaking to a party meeting at Loughgiel, Co Antrim, Ms Brid Rodgers of the SDLP said no party in Northern Ireland could "afford to endure the odium" that would result from preventing the implementation of the Belfast Agreement.
"Eight months after the people's resounding endorsement, it is fair to ask whether all parties have lived up to the commitment made. Or have some in effect been playing into the hands of the anti-agreement elements in failing to ensure the setting-up of the very institutions to which we committed ourselves?
"The present impasse must be resolved. It will be resolved only when the Ulster Unionists and Sinn Fein equally recognise that the commitment to achieve `mutual trust' will not be honoured by continued standoff.
"Given the depth of distrust which exists, however understandable it may be, the key to moving forward lies in the recognition from both sides that they need to enable the other to move.
"It would indeed be a tragedy if the commitment of so many people in bringing us to the Good Friday agreement and the risks taken by various political leaders, including Mr Adams and Mr Trimble, were to be set at naught as a result of failure to recognise this central point," Ms Rodgers said.