Word came yesterday morning that we were going to lose Mo Mowlam. The first thought: we'll never see her likes again. And who do we get in her stead? Peter Mandelson. Politics remains fraught, but very interesting in Northern Ireland.
It seems Dr Mowlam has been part of the political landscape here for an inordinately long time. But not so. She came into the job of Northern Secretary only two years and five months ago. She breezed into Belfast one morning in May 1997, and politics hasn't been the same since.
On that day she glad-handed her way along city-centre Belfast, having a chat here, offering a big hug there, taking a bite out of someone's apple, being extravagant with her kisses. This, coming after the patrician aloofness of her predecessor, Sir Patrick Mayhew, was refreshing and almost shocking.
"Well done, Mo, I hope you kick the politicians into shape here," a Catholic man told her.
That indeed was part of her purpose. With her informal behaviour, her fondness for risque jokes, her profligate use of the vernacular, nationalists generally warmed to her. Unionists, though, much more strait-laced, often found her a difficult character. She was "unladylike", some complained.
David Trimble called for her resignation in June, but said yesterday that the media portrayal of a strained relationship between him and Dr Mowlam was exaggerated. Reporters took this with several grains of salt. Ken Maginnis was glad to see her go. The view of the DUP is captured in the jubilant headline from an Ian Paisley press release, "Goodbye Mo". She and the DUP leader had a number of altercations. On one occasion she jokingly told him to "piss off" when he intruded on a conversation she was having with one of his colleagues.
Dr Mowlam's legacy is the Belfast Agreement. She was here for the key period of negotiations leading to that accord on Good Friday last year. Her leader, Tony Blair, took some of the limelight from her in the final week of negotiations, but there is no gainsaying that she was crucial to the deal.
She exhibited both personal and political courage. She bullied and cajoled politicians to make compromises and to take risks.
One of her biggest gambles was meeting loyalist prisoners in the Maze in January 1998 after the INLA murder of the LVF leader, Billy Wright.
At the same time Dr Mowlam was recovering from a benign brain tumour, which was diagnosed early in 1997 not long before her appointment as Northern Secretary. She continued with her work despite chemotherapy, which caused her to lose her hair and bloated her appearance. She had no intention of divulging her illness until unkind references to her looks were made.
One press report described her as resembling "an only slightly effeminate Geordie trucker". Her laughing response was: "I like Geordie truckers." The cheerful, courageous way she confronted and overcame her illness while continuing to put in 18-hour work days won her many friends.
Most unionists, while having personal regard for her, thought she was too "green" in her political leanings. She certainly got on well with the likes of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. One memory is of her deep in conversation with Mr Adams in the lead-up to the Belfast Agreement. She was overheard to tell him: "You bloody well get on and do it. Otherwise I'll head-butt you."
But it wasn't always plain sailing with the nationalist community. She was heavily criticised by nationalists in 1997 after she failed to honour a promise that she would personally tell Garvaghy Road residents of her decision on the Drumcree parade. Amidst scenes of violence Orangemen were allowed down the road, which triggered a rash of graffiti in republican areas stating "Mo Surrender".
Dr Mowlam appeared crestfallen at Downing Street yesterday. She couldn't fully mask her disappointment. She genuinely liked Northern Ireland and wanted to be here through to the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement. But it was probably time for her to bow out.
Her judgment, after the IRA murder of Charles Bennett and the Florida gun-running operation, that the IRA ceasefire was breached but not broken also wounded her capacity to function as the main British government player.
There are only a few weeks left of Senator George Mitchell's review. The arrival of Peter Mandelson will sharply focus minds on what is at stake. It was time for someone else to try to bring the agreement to completion - or to see it collapse.
Tough on Dr Mowlam, but that's frontline politics. Still, her motto should remain, "No Regrets". She enlivened politics here and put it up to the stuffed shirts. She was very successful. If the agreement falls, it will not be her fault. Her place in the history books is assured.