In Belfast, battle was joined early in the morning. MPs Ken Maginnis and Willie Thompson were up at the dawn notifying Northern Ireland's breakfasters that the political diet this week would be the same for all meals.
David Trimble "couldn't have made a worse bargain", said Willie in his quiet but telling down-home Tyrone manner. Willie Thompson was "long enough in politics" to know there was no alternative to achieving IRA decommissioning, insisted Ken.
Two veterans - one for, the other against - setting the tone on BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster for the rest of the day, and the rest of the week. Come Saturday, the 858 members of the Ulster Unionist Council and the rest of the population denied normal radio and TV fare, will be suffering from political overkill.
High noon is time for the daily 90-minute BBC radio programme, Talkback, hosted by David Dunseith, described correctly by many as one of the North's "chief civilising influences".
Everybody gets their say here, the good, the bad, the earnest, the carnaptious, even those who appear to be wired to some of the strange masts on top of Belfast's Black Mountain. Students of history or politics seeking an insight into what makes Northerners tick should chuck away their textbooks and tune into this show.
"Can the one who trusts the viper expect not to be bitten?" wondered John from Carry duff. Mr Trimble was the assumed victim here, and no prizes for guessing who the viper represents.
A "Londonderry Unionist" warned: "If Trimble gets his way and brings Sinn Fein into government, in 10 years we will be dealing in punts, and most of the Protestant population will be converted to the church of Rome." A Limavady unionist rang to criticise UUP Assembly member Pauline Armitage for saying she would vote No on Saturday.
"Old unionism is dead," said the Limavady unionist, and then went on to make unkind comparisons between such politics and the popular BBC programme on dinosaurs.
Gerry Douglas, a pretty laidback UUC member from South Down though would be voting Yes on Saturday. "We are only 30 odd days away from the new millennium, and I suppose changes have to take place," he said. Gerry reck oned the "vast majority" of the UUC would be "of like mind".
It was all perfectly reasonable the way Gerry put it but Harry, also from South Down, was instantly punching the phone buttons to insist that his likes "should be hiding in a corner" for holding such views.
Pro-deal UUP Assembly member Michael McGimpsey told Talkback that the UUC meeting on Saturday was switched from the Ulster Hall to the new Waterfront Hall because the latter offered superior facilities. Ah no, said a Newtownabbey caller, "it's because they haven't the neck to face the ghost of Carson and those who signed the Ulster covenant".
In the evening following Peter Mandelson's statement and John Taylor's cagey response at Westminster, the main characters such as David Trimble, Jeffrey Donaldson and Ian Paisley started appearing on BBC, UTV, RTE and Downtown Radio - all battling for the hearts and minds of the UUC.
This is The Big Sell, a gripping real-life piece of suspense, on your screens and radios from now till Saturday. You can't miss it.
