Protecting the Belfast Agreement will be one of the top priorities for Mr Tony Blair's government provided, as predicted, Labour wins in today's landmark UK election.
Having retired to his Sedge field constituency to await the verdict, the Prime Minister's immediate focus is certain to be on the post-election cabinet re shuffle.
Amid reports that Mr Blair intends in the late summer to trigger a major debate about Britain's relationship with Eur ope, the expectation is that Mr Robin Cook will remain Foreign Secretary, at least until after any referendum on the euro.
The Education Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, is widely tipped to take over from Mr Jack Straw as Home Secretary, while Mr Straw could move to Transport in a recasting of Mr John Prescott's Department of Environment, Transport and the Reg ions.
Mr Blair will eagerly await news from Northern Ireland on the fate of Mr David Trimble's Ulster Unionists. Mr Trimble's ability to see off the DUP challenge is central to British and Irish government plans to have an intensive negotiation on all the outstanding issues threatening the Belfast Agreement under way by June 18th.
Since the final outcome of Northern Ireland's Westminster and district council elections will not be clear until Monday or Tuesday, British sources say it will be the middle of next week before the two governments have "the sense of where the dynamic lies".
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and Mr Blair - assuming his return to power - would be expected to discuss Northern Ireland on the margins of the EU summit in Gothenburg on Friday week.
Mr Blair, however, was taking nothing for granted yesterday.
Speaking in Nottinghamshire, he told voters: "Nothing we offer is possible if people do not come out and vote for it. The vote is a precious thing. People fought and died to get the vote." In the North, several key constituencies such as West Tyrone, South Antrim, North Down, North Belfast, Strangford, East Londonderry and Fermanagh-South Tyrone, could be decided by the narrowest of margins.
Should the DUP seriously encroach on the UUP vote and increase its Westminster representation from three to six, anti-agreement unionists would portray the result as unionist rejection of the Belfast Agreement.
Counting will not begin until tomorrow, with the first of the 18 Westminster results due around teatime. Counting for the local elections, which are also taking place today, starts on Monday.