The last time Northern Ireland politicians put together a programme for government was during the Sunningdale executive of 1974. That ended in failure. Why should the £6 billion programme tabled by David Trimble and Seamus Mallon yesterday fare any better?
Well, said Mr Mallon, there were fist-fights in the Stormont chamber in 1974. All that happened yesterday was that Ian Paisley jnr was barred from Parliament Buildings, Stormont, because he refused to withdraw a remark in the house that Martin McGuinness was a liar.
Mr Paisley accepted his punishment quietly, while 26 years ago during discussion of budgetary matters some anti-Sunning dale Agreement unionists physically tore into the Yes unionists of that period, including unionist leader Brian Faulkner, recalled the Deputy First Minister.
"Brian Faulkner was going to be hit because he was first minister. Whatever else has happened the both of us, we haven't been hit yet, and I can assure you we are not going to allow anybody be hit."
Crisis? What crisis? Seamus Mallon and David Trimble appearing almost chummy, defending the agreement together, looking forward to implementation of the Executive's draft programme for government, and sounding confident that notwithstanding what happens at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting on Saturday this experiment in devolution, unlike Sunningdale, is destined for the long haul.
Cynical observers, and there were a few yesterday, viewed the 87-page document as long on aspiration but short on specifics. It wasn't sufficiently "radical" for Gerry Adams or David Ervine, but they guardedly welcomed its publication nonetheless.
It was "vacuous", said Paddy Roche of the Northern Ireland Unionist Party. It represented "the new high-water mark for all-Ireland government", said Nigel Dodds of the DUP. He complained of "rampant North-Southery" in the proposals.
A bit of perspective, please, was what Mr Trimble rather tauntingly sought from the DUP. Around £11 million for North-South matters out of a budget of £6 billion was hardly cross-Border co-operation run riot. And this expenditure was value for money, he added.
His defence of the North-South element seemed at odds with suggestions that in the absence of an IRA gesture on arms the Ulster Unionists might gradually disengage from the North-South arrangements in the agreement.
Mr Trimble, at his joint press conference with Mr Mallon, gave little away about his strategy for Saturday. "If you look at my speech you will get a clear enough steer there," he said. An exercise in "joined-up government" was Mr Trimble's depiction of the draft programme. Both he and Mr Mallon defended the document against charges that it was mainly aspirational. It contained 230 specific, costed and budgeted proposals and goals, they said.
"It is dangerously specific," said Mr Mallon. What he meant was that in cold accountable print the Executive had set out a litany of ambitions covering all departments and most issues relating to the governance of Northern Ireland, and how it interacted with the Republic, Britain, Europe, the US and the rest of the world.
The document sets out a broad vision for next year and for some years to come. It seeks to be the motor for social, political and economic development. On a grander scale the programme acknowledges that the Executive "must seek to be a driving and unifying force for the whole community".
While some of this might appear rather woolly, the document goes into greater detail on how significant improvements can be achieved in the areas of health, education, equality, industry, unemployment and social regeneration, and how issues such as poverty, deprivation and poor housing can be tackled.
It is about creating the foundation for government. It is up to the departments to define their strategies and ensure they are implemented but, again referring to Mr Mallon's notion of dangerous specificity, this will be the reference paper against which the Executive will be held accountable.
While there are many aspirations in the draft programme, the challenge for the Executive and the Assembly is to ensure they are achieved. "Collectively we are saying, here are the targets, here are the dates for their implementation, and we have got to meet them," said Mr Mallon.
Mr Trimble described the document as unique, the "equivalent of the queen's speech and multiparty manifesto rolled into one". A "defining moment", said Mr Mallon.
And this perhaps was the main point of the day. One reporter described Mr Trimble and Mr Mallon as the "Odd Couple", although yesterday they appeared at ease together. But it's the Executive itself of nationalists, republicans and unionists, two of whom won't sit in cabinet, which is the distinctly odd and unique arrangement.
Yet it succeeded in drawing up an ambitious plan for how Northern Ireland should be run in the years to come. Impossible to even imagine a few short years ago. Inevitably, while yesterday was another significant milestone in Northern Ireland politics, hanging over the whole project was the prospect of it falling apart if Ulster Unionists tie themselves on Saturday to a motion of no guns, no government.
Mr Trimble was remarkably sanguine about the dangers, and confident about the future of the Executive and Assembly. Asked if the whole agreement was in danger of collapsing he said: "Come back and ask me next week because we will be here next week."