Mr David Trimble, Mr Seamus Mallon and the 10 ministers of the Assembly Executive will have much to occupy them when they resume their jobs.
Northern Ireland has been run by Mr Peter Mandelson and his Northern Ireland Office ministerial colleagues, Mr Adam Ingram and Mr George Howarth, during the suspension period from February 11th.
According to Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister Sir Reg Empey, that allowed one of the ministers address economic matters for about "half-an-hour every fortnight".
Sir Reg may have been exaggerating, but NIO officials agreed the most the three Ministers could do was "just keep the shop running". One official said: "If important decisions had to be taken they were taken, but there was no time for strategy or planning."
The main task of the Executive will be to devise and agree a programme for government. There is an expectation that British Chancellor, Mr Gordon Brown, will help the Executive back on its feet and may provide some additional funding.
Finance Minister Mr Mark Durkan will be expected to maintain pressure on Mr Brown. Agriculture is still one of the hardest-hit sectors in the North and Mr Durkan can expect, if the Exchequer delivers, that Agriculture Minister Ms Brid Rodgers will be asking to have her budget beefed up.
As usual, the main focus will be on the Sinn Fein Ministers, Mr Martin McGuinness in education and Ms Bairbre de Brun in health. Mr McGuinness must decide soon whether to scrap the 11-plus selection procedure. He is also facing demands for capital funding from the integrated and Irish-language schools sectors.
Ms de Brun will continue to hit the headlines as she conducts the health rationalisation programme which will involve closures of some smaller hospitals, always very unpopular decisions to take.
But the first hurdle for the two Sinn Fein Ministers to overcome will be symbolic. Friday is the next designated day for flying the Union flag over government buildings. Sinn Fein leader Mr Gerry Adams said neither Mr McGuinness nor Ms de Brun would tolerate the Union flag over their departments. So how can this be handled without further salt being rubbed into very fresh and raw unionist wounds?
Harland & Wolff has won a reprieve with a large shipbuilding contract, but nonetheless one of the first tasks of Enterprise Minister Sir Reg Empey will be to examine how this industry can be safeguarded in the long term. In partnership with the Higher Education Minister, Mr Sean Farren, he must set about advertising to the world that Northern Ireland, with its well-educated workforce, is the place to establish high-tech industries.
The DUP's two Ministers, Mr Peter Robinson and Mr Nigel Dodds - if they decide to return - will be charged with developing the North's regional and social infrastructure. This will involve heavy expenditure on roads, rail, ports, energy, housing, and urban regeneration.
Environment Minister Mr Sam Foster and Mr Michael McGimpsey in Culture, Arts and Leisure also will be knocking on Mr Durkan's door, demanding sufficient funding to carry out their projects.
Higher Education Minister Mr Farren, encapsulating the task ahead for the Executive, said its "main challenge would be to create a sense of confidence and stability" so that everyone in Northern Ireland could benefit from devolution.
