THE Other Gerry, Gerry Kelly, strolled through the marbled splendour of Belfast City Hall as if he owned it. Everywhere he went, photographers followed. "That's harassment," said one smirking Sinn Fein supporter.
Mr Kelly, a candidate in north Belfast, displayed no emotion. The election count was under way; his mind was on serious matters. The great and the good stared down at him from their portraits on the walls.
The Other Gerry was in demand. Camera crews followed him up and down the Grand Staircase and around the ornate corridors. A loyalist supporter was enraged. "I wish somebody would trip him up, he said.
Workers for the Ulster Democratic Party, the UDA's political wing, were out in force. They commandeered one corner of the building where they smoked cigarettes chatted and chewed gums. They wore jeans, leather jackets and baseball caps.
"We looked like that before we went respectable," said a republican. Many UDP supporters had never seen a Sinn Feiner in the flesh before. If they were impressed, they didn't show it. "Gerry Adams isn't as charismatic as he seems on television," said one loyalist. "He's a thin as a matchstick," said another.
Billy Hutchinson of the Progressive Unionist Party, the UVF's political wing, raised a few eyebrows when he appeared with a bandaged left hand. Mr Hutchinson, a former prisoner, said he had not returned to violence. He had been canvassing in Fermanagh last Saturday and had decided to take a weekend family break when he was down. He had crushed his hand erecting a tent.
The PUP man, a candidate in North Belfast, battled with the DUP for the fifth and final seat.
Mr Hutchinson is seen as someone with whom republicans can do business. Sinn Fein supporters had their fingers crossed for him.
But he was pipped at the post. "Ian will be pleased," said one DUP man who set off to ring his party leader. "It's a wonderful day for Dr Paisley," said a group of DUP ladies at the top of the stairs.
When the Big Man appeared on a television screen they whooped and cheered. "Hip, hip, hurray! Hip, hip, hurray! Let's hear it for our Ian," they yelled.
A camera crew set up beside them to interview Gerry Adams. The women booed and jeered when the Sinn Fein President arrived. "Are you straightening your tie, Gerry? How much do you get for your television appearances?" they shouted.
"I don't like the look of Adams," said one DUP woman. "You can't see his face behind that beard. You never know what he's thinking. I wouldn't buy a used car from a man like that."
A group of Sinn Fein women kept an eye on the DUP ladies, making sure they didn't interrupt Mr Adams's broadcast. A female broadcaster was compiling a package on sex appeal among the North's politicians.
She singled out the Alliance leader John Alderdice and Sinn Fein's Tom Hartley for questioning. "It's because I'm looking particularly debonair in my new double breasted jacket," said Mr Hartley.
In the ladies' toilets, the PUP women regretted having worn stilettos to the City Hall. "There are no chairs in the counting rooms so you have to stand for hours. It's killing my feet," said one.
UDP workers didn't know whether having a similar name to the DUP was a help or a hindrance. People kept getting the two parties mixed up, said a UDP candidate, John White. "I told an old woman I was from the UDP on Thursday and she asked me to take her to the polling station," he said.
"It took ages for she stopped for her groceries on the way. She went and voted and I took her home. She thanked me for everything and said she had voted DUP all her life."
But Mr White had the last laugh. He hired a caravan in Ballymena for election day and was told it would cost £200. He booked it for the UDP. "I've just got an invoice for only £70," he said. "It was addressed to John White, DUP. They're big Paisley supporters in Ballymena."
The fringe loyalist parties were having great craic, but it was Sinn Fein's day. In West Belfast, the party secured 22,355 votes - twice the SDLP vote and its best performance in the constituency.
There were hugs and kisses all round.
The party was clearly delighted at the result. "The voters have spoken. They have picked their representatives," said Mr Kelly. And even he managed a smile.