It was the most low-key of the nine Ulster Unionist Council meetings David Trimble has faced. Normally, there is a flurry of activity in the foyer of the Waterfront Hall when these gatherings are held.
Campaigners on both sides rush to and fro, discussing tactics, number-crunching and briefing the press. But there was no buzz on Saturday. Inside the auditorium the debate also lacked the emotion of previous encounters.
It was opened by Ms Arlene Foster, UUP honorary secretary and a leading anti-agreement activist. She withdrew her motion that the UUP pull out of government with Sinn FΘin if there was no further decommissioning by February.
Instead there would be a "compromise motion" from the anti-agreement MP, Mr David Burnside, proposing the party withdraw from cross-Border institutions in February if the police did not retain the royal title, flag and symbols.
The Burnside motion also recommended the party review its position in the Executive in March if the IRA failed to disarm. Ms Foster hoped a broad consensus could be built around this position. She rejected accusations that those who demanded the UUC meeting had acted divisively. A democratic party needed debate, she said.
Proposing his motion, Mr Burnside said sanctions and deadlines had worked before. If nationalists weren't prepared to respect the British dimension, then unionists couldn't continue to implement the Irish dimension.
The motion was seconded by the former RUC deputy chief constable, Mr Blair Wallace. He said police morale and staffing levels were at an all-time low. Losing the royal title and insignia was an insult to the 302 RUC officers killed in the Troubles. Mr Trimble said the Burnside motion was even more hardline than Ms Foster's. It would bring down the Assembly and the Executive which both unionists and nationalists in the North wanted to succeed.
He defended his tactics which had secured decommissioning and said he didn't want to disclose future tactics. He said he had earned the trust of his party.
The Industry Minister, Sir Reg Empey, said he had tried to address anti-agreement concerns. It was important the UUP backed its leader, he added.
Mr Peter Brown, a councillor from Ballymena, Co Antrim, referred to Mr Trimble's recent comparison of the UUP to a football team. The referee was "the 460,000 men and women of the unionist electorate". The party had endured huge losses in June's Westminster and council elections. "We have been given a yellow card for persistent foul play and we will get a second one in the Assembly elections in May 2003 if we continue in the same way," he warned.
The Arts Minister, Mr Michael McGimpsey, said Northern Ireland was a unionist construct and if unionists were not prepared to work it - as the Burnside motion proposed - how could they expect nationalists to do so? An opportunity existed to create a safe and law-abiding society, and it was important for this and future generations that it was grasped, he added. Three MLAs, Mr Danny Kennedy, Mr Derek Hussey and Mr Roy Beggs jnr said they had concerns about the process but had decided to back their leader.
An East Londonderry delegate, Ms Anne Lyttle, said the Burnside motion did not represent a leadership challenge. The UUP needed a strategy to give unionists confidence. There must be a firm timetable for decommissioning and "zero tolerance for terrorism".
The Rev Eric Culbertson said the leadership's strategy appeared to be, "something will turn up" on decommissioning, and that was not good enough. An Upper Bann delegate, Mr Robert Oliver, said Mr Trimble could not continue with policies consistently opposed by 40 per cent of his party.
The party chairman, Mr James Cooper, said anti-agreement activists were effectively mounting a leadership challenge. When he saw Afghanistan on television, he was thankful Northern Ireland had not deteriorated in that way.
Both pro- and anti-agreement delegates concurred that the best speech was delivered by Mr Jeffrey Donaldson MP, who said unionist confidence was at an all-time low and the removal of British symbols from the police and courts had to be vigorously opposed. The flow of traditional UUP voters to the DUP must be stopped, he said.
Still, the speech could not secure victory for the anti-agreement wing. After nearly three hours of debate, the Burnside motion was defeated by 409 votes to 320.