On Monday night, after his working dinner with the Taoiseach to discuss the EU Cardiff summit next weekend, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, paid a courtesy call on the President, Mrs McAleese, at Aras an Uachtarain. Aras officials believe it was the first visit by a serving British prime minister. Bertie Ahern and the Tanaiste, Mary Harney, were also there. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
The Unionists came on board for the Belfast Agreement and accepted that the new assembly would include Sinn Fein because, Quidnunc understands, the British prime minister, Tony Blair, threatened to hold an all-UK referendum on the future of the North. The prospect of a British electorate voting to isolate them was enough to get David Trimble on side.
Both the new Northern Ireland Assembly, the fourth, to be elected on June 25th, and the incoming administration will be politically balanced, thanks to the sterling efforts of the two sovereign governments and Senator George Mitchell. What they will not be, however, is gender-balanced. Of the 270 candidates, only 40 are women, many with little prospect of success, and not one will be in the 10- or 12-member government.
Mo Mowlam, a main architect of the agreement, was a shock to the political system in the North - a woman boss in one of the last outposts of misogyny in western Europe, where women who spoke out, particularly the feisty stalwarts of the Women's Coalition - were frequently called "silly women" and told to go home and breed for Ulster. She will stay on as Secretary of State until the end of the year. When the Northern Ireland executive takes over in January, she will lose many of her powers and will probably be promoted in the British cabinet for her work.
Over the next six months the incoming ministers will shadow the portfolios currently held by Blair's Stormont team in preparation for taking power in January or February. The Secretary of State will retain responsibility for security, police, criminal justice and prisons and will continue to represent the North at cabinet, but it will be a less important job, so probably an obvious time for Mo to move up.
Who will the new ministers be? David Trimble will be first minister and John Hume second. Others, on the understanding they get elected, lined up for jobs include John Taylor, Ken Maginnis, Reg Empey, Lord Alderdice, Seamus Mallon, Mark Durkan, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. Party leaders Ian Paisley and Robert McCartney have a right to be in the new government, but the duty of service clause means they must also sign up for the cross-Border bodies. They may not wish to do this, and may opt to stay outside the executive.