We all breathed a sigh of relief when Tony Blair announced that 2006 would be "a very decisive year" for the peace process, writes Frank McNally
As he quickly added: "every year has been" since 1998.
But such is the rate of progress even in decisive years that many of us dread what would happen if the two governments ever relaxed and declared the year ahead to be non-decisive.
As it was, Bertie Ahern felt the need to quash suggestions that the end of 2006 was the new deadline for agreement in the North.
"I want to see progress now - not at the end of the year," he said, with a determined jut of his jaw. It was a brave attempt at body language.
Unfortunately, as an expression of the state of things, it was not quite as expressive as the Taoiseach's left leg which, like the peace process, is limping badly at the moment.
The two leaders were joined for the press conference in Farmleigh's ballroom by their foreign secretaries, Dermot Ahern and Peter Hain, who stood off to one side like a pair of wallflowers desperately hoping that someone would dance with them soon.
In fact, whatever happens, Dermot and Peter will be stepping out together early next month.
The governments have set February 6th for the start of new talks, at which point the two ministers will be guaranteed to see action, probably of the slow-slow-quick-quick-slow variety so beloved of Northern parties.
In the meantime, for once, there was no mention of choreography - not even in the context of the imminent International Monitoring Commission report on paramilitary activity, which will provide the background music to the latest phase.
Tony Blair looked less optimistic than grimly determined. He no longer feels the hand of history on his shoulder at these occasions.
More likely he feels the hand of Gordon Brown, and he knows Northern Ireland is now probably his only chance to leave a positive legacy.
There was a telling moment when a BBC questioner digressed from the North to ask him about the electoral success of Hamas.
Mr Blair smiled gingerly, and amid polite laughter, suggested it might be "unwise to get into that".
Then he got into it anyway. But you know the Northern peace process has dragged on too long when the subject of Palestinian terrorists is light relief at press conferences.
Of Hamas, Mr Blair said that while he recognised the group's mandate, it now had to decide between "the path of
democracy and the path of violence".
With that, he himself took the path down to Áras an Uachtaráin, for the second part of his latest Irish mission.
The media were not invited to attend; although they were invited to speculate - as freely as they liked - that the chat with President McAleese was part of the parallel peace process leading to an eventual visit by Queen Elizabeth.