Until the current deadlock, relations between the previously warring factions in the North were getting increasingly familiar. Witness this week's jibe in the Assembly at Martin McGuinness from DUP member Sammy Wil- son, who told the Minister for Education that he was allowed answer questions now - he wasn't in Castlereagh (RUC interrogation centre).
Another sign of change was the fact that First Minister, David Trimble gave an interview to, of all things, the Andersontown News, a very suspect organ indeed in Unionist circles. It was published last Saturday. Interviewer Edward McCann writes that it is immediately apparent that Trimble is not a man with the common touch. "This is a politician with a highly analytical mind and every answer is carefully weighed. However, Trimble does have a deadpan wit which may be lost on some. Asked about the veracity of claims that he's an Elvis fan, Trimble simply answers - `everyone has a past'."
Quidnunc is at rholohan@irish-times.ie