Some politicians wear better than others after late nights and a round of intense discussions.
The Taoiseach looked a little blotchy, his dark suit speckled with dandruff, as he faced the media outside Hillsborough Castle yesterday morning.
The SDLP leader, John Hume, seemed not to have enjoyed a wink of sleep. Unshaven and ashen-faced, he chatted gravely with his deputy, Seamus Mallon. Even the normally neat David Trimble was a little dishevelled.
But the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, was positively radiant. Sun-tanned and smiling in a crisp navy suit, he addressed the press with his usual lucidity.
Progress at the talks seemed slow. At lunchtime, there was still no sign of a breakthrough. The Sinn Fein representatives were sporting Easter lilies in their lapels. "The DUP will probably be wearing Easter lilies by the time we get this thing sorted out", quipped one wag.
But once unimaginable things were happening inside. Northern Ireland Office officials were reportedly distributing copies of that morning's Provisional IRA Easter statement to the talks participants. "This is a first", said a Sinn Fein press officer with a big smile.
Just before lunchtime, the political leaders faced the press. Mr Trimble, in a striking Orange shirt - just to reassure the doubters that he hadn't sold out, a colleague joked - expressed disappointment with the Provisional IRA's statement.
"We have not seen any sign of the republican movement committing itself in a realistic way to carrying out its share of the agreement. That is the problem. While there may be some encouraging things in terms of atmospherics and matters of that nature, I think we have to be very clear between form and substance."
The Sinn Fein chairman, Mitchel McLaughlin, wasn't letting his party cop the blame. He was "a bit disconcerted" by the unionists' attitude.
But Mr Blair was not downbeat. Progress remained to be made, but "the people of Northern Ireland will not forgive us if we do not get this sorted out", he said.
Discussions broke up to enable Mr Ahern to fly back to Dublin and Mr Blair to return to Westminster for Prime Minister's Question Time and a briefing on Yugoslavia. Both leaders returned to Northern Ireland later yesterday evening.
Loyalist protesters were at Hillsborough Castle to greet them. But in some quarters there was still hope that a deal could be hatched. "Tony Blair doesn't waste time. He hasn't returned for nothing", said an NIO official. "It's going to be a long, long night", he predicted.
As the demonstrators protested outside Hillsborough Castle, the Sinn Fein president, Gerry Adams, broke away from the talks to declare: "The deadlock has yet to be broken." But he said his discussions with Mr Trimble were more cordial and focused.
The unionist precondition remained very firmly fixed and Mr Adams resented any suggestion that his party was not acting in good faith. "We cannot deliver from any of the armed groups the type of demands put to us and which prevents this process going on."