On Wednesday the North faces yet another deadline. The Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister, the Secretary of State and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, their juniors and their officials will be at Stormont, the party leaders and their members and the civil servants will be on hand, the media will be there en masse and no doubt the usual people will be protesting at the gate.
As always the Northern politicians, in whose hands it all lies, are being told this is their last chance of self-government in line with the referendum passed, North and South, last year. Dublin and London want them to have it and all they need do is agree to co-operate.
But is it really their last chance? Yes - for now. The cynics say there is little enthusiasm for progressing to the d'Hondt system of executive selection as everyone is having it too easy. The unionists in particular are delighted that the assembly exists (although it has met on only 16 days in 12 months), as it allows them feel they are running their own affairs. Sinn Fein, gung-ho on electoral success, North and South, is not pushing for decommissioning and is happy to let things drift until the autumn and the Patten report on policing; indeed having lived with mayhem for 30 years, some more this summer isn't a bother. In any case, it tolerates rather than supports the assembly because its participation recognises partition. It is the SDLP which yearns for a power-sharing executive. It can benefit greatly from having ministers in departments and cross-Border committees operating.
At present it is certainly the position that everyone has jobs but few have work. The assembly members get £37,000 a year, but rarely meet, although travel allowances ensure they turn up. The new civil servants and the committee clerks hardly have paper on their desks to shuffle. The British government is fed up paying out for the running of the assembly - £10.6 million up to mid-April, says the NIO. It is no wonder Tony Blair said another way would have to be found if d'Hondt isn't activated on Wednesday. No one will say what this might be. Failure to make a deal is not being contemplated as to do so might encourage hope of an alternative. Therefore, they say there is no Plan B.
But the suspension of the assembly, and the salaries, may be seen as the first move. Sceptics doubt that will be sufficient.