Balancing his First Minister job in one hand and his campaign to survive as UUP leader in the other, David Trimble was going to have to engage in a spot of juggling this week, according to Mark Simpson, a political correspondent.
On BBC Radio's Morning Ulster programme yesterday, Simpson set the scene for the crucial Ulster Unionist Council meeting on Saturday, pointing out that the First Minister had an exhausting week ahead. On top of trying to sell his position to the 860 delegates across Northern Ireland over the next few days, there was also the not-insignificant matter of the announcement of the Executive's first programme for government today.
"The delegates hold the fate of devolution in their hands," Simpson said, adding that Trimble would also have a bout of jet lag to cope with after a flight home from Canada.
On Radio Ulster's Talkback, the UUP's Jim Rodgers was more interested in talking about the soccer clash between Glento ran and Linfield in Belfast on Saturday and refused to be drawn on the divisions in unionism over decommissioning. He didn't think the party's laundry should be washed in public. "All I want to see this week is a reasonable debate . . . Let's settle it behind closed doors. That's where our disagreements should be aired, not in the public domain."
It was a low-key start to a debate which is likely to heat up considerably as Saturday draws nearer. Reporting for Evening Extra, Martina Purdy said speculation was mounting that the UUP leadership might opt for some kind of phased withdrawal from the institutions if decommissioning did not take place.
The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Michael McGimpsey, wouldn't comment, but spoke of the need to make politics work. "This agreement is all there is that we have going for us. This agreement will deliver peace for future generations. If we lose it, we will be in a situation that you see in the Middle East." Meanwhile, an interview with the Sinn Fein president, Gerry Adams, who was against setting any kind of deadlines for decommissioning, was widely reported.
We had seen great progress in recent times, he said, and that was the way to keep going, "moving in partnership, collectively sorting this out. And if we do that, I am convinced we will take the gun out of Irish politics and if we don't, if the rejectionist unionists have their way . . . the gun isn't going to be taken out of Irish politics."
Feelings are running high among the public. During a BBC Newsline report on the impending council meeting, a group of Fianna Fail women who had visited Stormont to watch the Assembly were asked for their opinion on the state of play. Asked what she would do if devolution collapsed after Saturday, one of them replied immediately: "I would die."
And there was evidence that an institution with equally high stakes, the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? quiz show, has penetrated even top political circles. All the local news headlines reported Gerry Adams's refusal to offer valuable lifelines to the First Minister on decommissioning. But at least on Saturday Trimble gets to ask the audience.