It opened like a rather ramshackle county council meeting. The room was modern and characterless. The chairman was new at the job and made up for his lack of expertise with the sonorous tone of his pronouncements. Standing orders ranged from the chaotic to the non-existent.
There was no division bell, putting at risk the votes of some members idling in the corridor and the canteen.
But the extraordinary nature of this gathering quickly became apparent. Even before the proceedings opened, there was the sight of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness bearing down on the DUP front bench to all the world intent on attempting the final impossible handshake before veering away at the last moment towards the exit door.
In the public gallery Ian Paisley and Joe Cahill, chatting with their respective constituents, sat a few short feet apart.
Monica McWilliams of the Women's Coalition was kissing all around her, loyalists and republicans alike.
As Sinn Fein members rose to speak, the sound of the cupla focal rang through the unfamiliar atmosphere of Stormont's Castle Buildings. It was interrupted only by outbursts of co-ordinated coughing and loud chatter from the DUP and United Kingdom Unionist benches.
The generosity of John Taylor's opening comments in proposing Seamus Mallon for the Deputy First Minister post, calling him a "good friend who will work for the good of Northern Ireland" set the tone for the speech-making.
Gerry Adams said Sinn Fein would abstain on the vote for the First and Deputy First Ministers to spare the Ulster Unionists the embarrassment of being seen to be supported by the republican enemies of Ulster.
When the traditional spleen of Stormont parliaments erupted - and it did not take long - it was exclusively an inter-unionist affair. Ian Paisley, Robert McCartney, Peter Robinson and their followers had only one target, David Trimble, and only one topic for debate: whether he was going to sit down in government with Sinn Fein before the IRA decommissioned any weapons.
Speaker after speaker from the DUP and UKUP side of the house demanded that the Ulster Unionist leader give an absolutely binding commitment that such an appalling vista was not being contemplated.
When he finally rose to respond, Mr Trimble had his new SDLP deputy's declaration of support ringing in his ears.
Seamus Mallon pledged that any disagreements between the two men would be dealt with "face to face", because the unionist leader's "back is sore enough at this time."
Mr Trimble was at his most statesmanlike. Of course, the commitment to peaceful means must be demonstrated by every party joining the new government of Northern Ireland.
Of course, he would not sit in government with "unreconstructed terrorists". And of course some people, including some in the Assembly, had done "terrible things" in the past.
But he acknowledged that such people could change: just because they had a past as unreconstructed terrorists did not mean they could not have a future as totally reconstructed democrats.
The near-miracle of a page of history turning in Northern Ireland was almost audible.