The Ulster Unionist Council meeting in Belfast's splendidly modern Waterfront Hall was conducted against the backdrop of the exotic setting for Verdi's Aida. "Returned by public demand," stated the blurb for the opera. "A truly brilliant production," it added.
That was the Saturday evening show at the venue. The matinee performance earlier in the day featured the UUC, with David Trimble and Jeffrey Donaldson as the leads fronting a cast of hundreds. It was back by demand of the Ulster Unionist Party, and it too was a spellbinding production.
Reporters were excluded from the show but insiders said Mr Trimble's opening number was the popular political tune, Back Me Or Sack Me.
Mr Trimble said the good news was that the RUC would be in the "title deeds" of the new police force and, without actually laying down dangerous preconditions, he said if Ulster Unionists did not get what they wanted on arms, they could always walk away from the Executive.
"Wise old men of the party" would form a committee to monitor the decommissioning issue. He was also confident that the flags issue would be handled to unionists' satisfaction.
But the time for negotiation was over, he insisted. The Hillsborough deal was as good as it was going to get. To reject it, added Mr Trimble, "would leave nationalists radicalised and unionists demoralised". Unionists didn't have to trust in Tony Blair, they didn't have to trust in Peter Mandelson, they had to trust in themselves.
Vote Yes was his other big number.
Belfast's Lord Mayor, Robert Stoker, seconded Mr Trimble's motion, which effectively asked the council to support the UUP's return to the Executive on the basis of the deal worked out at Hillsborough earlier this month. The best way forward, he said, was for unionists to confront Sinn Fein and to deal with it in government. He had spoken to RUC officers and Royal Irish Regiment soldiers and they were happy with the proposed police changes, he added.
"That's not what they're telling me, Bobby," was the line from Mr Donaldson, when he made his grand entrance. Mr Donaldson wanted to table his alternative proposals as an amendment to Mr Trimble's motion, but this was overruled by the meeting's chairman, Sir Josias Cunningham, to avoid confusion during the voting. Mr Donaldson appeared reasonably happy to go along with that decision. One Young Unionist rather uncharitably agreed after the meeting that it made sense because "otherwise some of the old dodderers on the council wouldn't know what they were voting for".
Mr Donaldson, the MP for Lagan Valley, gave the speech "of his life", according to his supporters, and even those firmly in the Yes side agreed he spoke passionately and well. He said he had "lain in ditches defending Ulster" when he served in the Ulster Defence Regiment.
He said Mr Trimble's comments about unionists having trust in themselves did not add up when, in relation to the RUC and flags, they had to trust in what the Northern Secretary, Mr Mandelson, would do. His stark argument was that a vote for his alternative was a vote for the Ulster Unionist Party; a vote against was a vote to put unreconstructed republicans into government.
The London-based public relations expert, David Burnside, supported Mr Donaldson's call for a No vote. The only way forward for unionism was to "hang tough", he contended.
That was borne out by the fact that the British government had to some extent moderated Patten. That was because the council at its last performance had adopted Mr Burnside's motion linking any participation in government to the maintenance of the RUC name. It had forced concessions from the British government and proved that unionists could win if they stood firm, he said. About 20 council members spoke - a Yes speaker followed by a No delegate. There was much repetition in the arguments. As one delegate taking a break from proceedings said, "they're like a stuck record in there."
Daphne Kinghan, however, had the council's full attention when she took the rostrum. Her father, Sir Norman Stronge, and brother, James, were murdered together by the IRA in 1981. In a very brief but effective speech, she said she was supporting Mr Trimble and the deal because that was the only way forward.
Jean Holden from Enniskillen balanced the emotion of that contribution when she spoke of an RUC officer friend murdered by the IRA. How could she face that dead officer's family again by voting to put "the IRA back into government"? It is believed that most of the Orange Order delegates, who had 120 votes on the council, rejected the Hillsborough deal, but Richard Reid, an Orangeman from Co Tyrone, was in favour. This should not be about winners and losers but about what was best for the Ulster Unionist Party and Northern Ireland, he argued, and what was best was to endorse the deal.
Billy Tate had no fears of Sinn Fein in government. "I'm a school headmaster and I know how to handle Martin McGuinness," he said. The Rev Eric Culbertson from Tyrone, in one of the most emotional addresses of the day, said it did not make sense to put Sinn Fein into government because it would be "the enemy within" acting to "subvert the state".
Lady Sylvia Hermon, wife of the former RUC chief constable Sir John Hermon, said the UUP had succeeded in wresting some concessions on Patten from the British government, and these were contained in the Police Bill, which had yet to pass through the British parliament. She urged a Yes vote.
The West Tyrone MP, William Thompson, said it was just "plain foolish" to support the Hillsborough proposals. "The Ulster Unionist Party's interests should be in looking after the interests of the Union, but we are being asked to bring into government those who are dedicated to the destruction of the Union."
Minister-in-waiting for the second time, Sir Reg Empey, raised the spectre of joint authority. He warned that rejection of the deal would lead to a resumption of direct rule from Westminster with a "very green tinge".
Roy Beggs jnr produced a letter Mr Trimble sent to him over a year ago when the Larne Assembly member was threatening to jump ship from the UUP. It dealt with assurances on guns and government and referred to Mr Trimble's offer to resign if the IRA did not deliver on decommissioning. Mr Beggs's argument was that the leader had not delivered on his promises.
Mr Trimble, in his press conference after the meeting, accurately described the debate as "vigorous . . . but civilised". This was partly due to a tactical decision by the Young Unionists to be on their best Sunday school behaviour on Saturday.
When John Taylor rose to speak, though, there was a chorus of boos and catcalls from a number in the audience. Mr Taylor is impervious to such jeering. He said he was now minded to vote Yes because concessions were won on policing and flags.
Unionists were living in a different Northern Ireland now, he said. When Lord Molyneaux and Lord Brookeborough were leaders of the party, unionists represented up to 70 per cent of the voting population but nationalists now had 42 per cent of the vote. They had to be accommodated.
Moreover, he added, he had a letter in his pocket from the Northern Secretary offering concessions on policing and flags.
"Show me the letter, John," said Mr Donaldson, when he wrapped up for the No side, echoing the scornful cries of many in the crowd.
Mr Donaldson again went for the emotions, repeating his arguments, and asking how unionists would fancy having Martin McGuinness and Bairbre de Brun again in charge of their children's education and the population's health.
No matter how the vote went, though, he would remain in the party and continue to fight his corner, he concluded.
Last word at the end of the debate, which had lasted almost three hours, was to Mr Trimble; most people's minds were made up at that stage but one of his ardent supporters claimed his final speech swung a few crucial votes. "The hard line is the soft option," was his concluding argument.
To adopt an intransigent stance and follow the path of Jeffrey Donaldson and his supporters was the easy route to follow, but that hadn't worked in the past and the reality was it was not going to work now. The difficult option was to go for inclusive government, but it was also the best option, he told the delegates.
In the vote, 459 (53 per cent) said Yes, 403 (47 per cent) said No. One delegate spoiled his or her vote.
It was over, for a while at least. The response was muted when Sir Josias Cunningham announced the result - no outward signs of lamentation or calls of bravo. The delegates sang the British national anthem and then quietly trooped out of the Waterfront Hall.