Another deadline will come and pass. Mr David Trimble has postponed for a week the Ulster Unionist Council decision on whether the IRA's offer on arms can resolve the deadlock which has plagued the peace process. The restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive and the other political institutions will be delayed.
In all the prevailing circumstances, however, the deferral of the meeting is probably a wise move. Mr Trimble went into yesterday's Ulster Unionist Assembly Party meeting fully intent on proceeding to accept the deal tomorrow. He had brought Mr Michael McGimpsey and Sir Reg Empey around to his point of view. His deputy leader, Mr John Taylor, argued for a delay of weeks. It can be safely assumed that Mr Trimble didn't have sufficient support for his stance at the meeting. Some members saw no basis for accepting the deal on offer; others felt that they didn't have enough time to consider it.
The bona fides of Mr Trimble's decision to buy more time to campaign for the restoration of the Executive has been accepted by the pro-agreement parties. The Taoiseach acknowledged that he needed the time to explain the significance of the Hillsborough proposals and the IRA statement to the Unionist community. The Northern Secretary, Mr Mandelson, said that he would rather wait a week for a good result than rush forward now. The SDLP and Sinn Fein were also constructive in their responses.
But all of that is not to ignore the fact that the Belfast Agreement could slip from Mr Trimble's grasp if he does not use the next week to campaign enthusiastically for the deal on offer. He made a good start last evening when he committed himself to doing so. In gaining a week, it should be well spent in spelling out, in the clearest language, the consequences for the Unionist community if they allow themselves to be cast as those who have blocked the re-establishment of the Executive and the Assembly. The Republicans would be positioned on the high moral ground in the aftermath of the IRA's decision effectively to abandon its arms.
What Mr Trimble needs to do in the coming week is re-focus the debate within his own community. The Executive and the Assembly fell on the issue of guns for government - not flags nor titles. The valid argument then was that the Republican movement had failed to honour an understanding that it would do something on decommissioning in return for Mr Trimble's decision to "jump first" and allow Sinn Fein members to participate in the Executive. What the IRA has offered in the intervening three months has a significance which is nothing short of revolutionary. The IRA statement of May 6th said that the leadership will initiate a process that will completely and verifiably put IRA arms beyond use. The two independent assessors, Mr Ramaphosa and Mr Ahtissaari, have already visited Northern Ireland.
Mr Trimble must recast the argument of the last two weeks. The IRA has made a significant shift in its position on the decommissioning of arms. The British Prime Minister has stated that there will be no further concessions. The point has been reached where the question must be posed: would a majority of Mr Trimble's own people rather stay in the wilderness than go back into the Executive with Sinn Fein?