THE declaration, "We have come too far to go back now", from President Clinton and the two prime ministers probably caught the public mood on the implementation of the Belfast Agreement. There is a feeling that the politicians have been shilly-shallying for a year now. Let them resolve the decommissioning row and get on with forming the executive.
But, as one insider put it, the problem isn't the D-word, it's the T-word. Trust, or rather the lack of it, is the basic faultline in the peace process.
Unionists don't trust republicans. Their nightmare is sitting in the cabinet room with Sinn Fein while from outside the screams of the victims of so-called punishment beatings can be heard. On a larger scale, as long as the IRA continues to exist, the threat of a return to war remains.
The decommissioning issue also provides a convenient cover for reservations in some quarters of unionism - not the current leadership, it must be said - about the idea of sharing power with nationalists.
Republicans don't trust unionists. They fear the decommissioning issue is a counter-insurgency tactic to split and weaken the republican movement. They believe it is an excuse for unionists to delay and sabotage the implementation of an agreement they never wanted in the first place.
The killing of Rosemary Nelson has heightened all the old fears that decommissioning will leave the nationalist community defenceless against loyalist attack.
As Northern politicians come to the end of their annual sojourn in the US for St Patrick's Day, the differences between the two sides have become clearer, and there has been a hint from republicans that they will show flexibility if the unionists are prepared to reciprocate.
At a news conference on Capitol Hill, Gerry Adams said he was prepared to "stretch the republican constituency once again", as he did with his statement last year about the need for violence to be "over, done with and gone", which was reportedly worked out in consultation with Downing Street and was generally taken as Adams-speak for "The war is over".
He said this week he was ready for "an accommodation on this issue which satisfies the Unionist Party", but he wanted to be sure the UUP leader was "in the loop".
There has been no sign of any change in the UUP leader's position. Reporting on their meeting in the White House, where President Clinton made his private office available to them, Adams said the First Minister had asked for the destruction of a substantial amount of guns, detonators and explosives. Adams made it clear that from his point of view this was a bridge too far and he was emphatic that he could not deliver. How one interprets this stance depends on one's view of Gerry Adams. Many unionists believe he is embarked on a long-term project of subverting democracy and bringing them under IRA rule.
Others, including the three governments, subscribe to George Mitchell's view of Adams as expressed in Making Peace, his book on the peace process: "I believe he is sincerely trying hard, in difficult and dangerous circumstances, to bring his supporters into the grand tent of democracy."
Trimble faces re-election as party leader at today's annual general meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council in Belfast. There are few rumblings and no sign of any challenge to him. The fact that he has publicly held firm on decommissioning has helped keep the ranks steady, but his audience will want to hear his thoughts on the current situation.
It would be surprising if he said anything to gladden the heart of Mr Adams: big party gatherings are not the occasion for such utterances. But the communications channel between the two men is now fully open and in regular use. Trimble-watchers know that if he is going to make some kind of quantum leap he will probably leave it until the last minute.
The Mitchell book, due out here shortly, recalls the events of last Good Friday and asks the question on many minds: "Why did Trimble take that fateful step?"
The senator believes he signed the agreement out of a mixture of high idealism and driving ambition. "He saw the opportunity to end a long and bitter conflict, and he did not want to go down in the history books as the man who let it pass."
He could have written exactly the same sentence about Gerry Adams. Now Adams and Trimble have a second date with history. Adams has been talking the language of conciliation in recent days: he is starting to show his hand with his offer to "stretch" the republican constituency.
On past form, Trimble will wait to see how far Adams is prepared to move and then make a judgment on whether he can accept the offer and survive politically.
At his news conference in Washington, the Sinn Fein leader did not specify whether stretching the republican constituency meant, for example, an IRA statement that the war was over or the delivery of hardware. Republican sources remain vehement that there will be no handover or destruction of guns or explosives, and scoff at suggestions to the contrary.
Some elements in the administration in Dublin still believe a physical gesture could be on the cards. While the Taoiseach has taken different positions at different times, he has on balance been more supportive of the unionist rather than the nationalist position on decommissioning.
His twin aim has clearly been to preserve and enhance his excellent relationship with David Trimble and to put as much pressure as possible on the people in the "back room" in the republican movement.
There are others at senior level on the Dublin side who believe the Taoiseach's emphasis on decommissioning has been mistaken: the aim is not attainable and, even if it were, it would lead to a major IRA split, which would serve no useful purpose and lead to further massacres on the Omagh scale.
Gen de Chastelain's report on the weapons issue is expected soon. The coming week will be a hectic one of meetings and frantic behind-the-scenes activity. Attention is beginning to focus on the three-hour gap permitted under Standing Orders between the start of the nominations procedure at the Assembly and the final allocation of ministerial posts.
We have had blood, toil and tears in Northern Ireland: now it may be time for everyone to sweat.