Direct rule ended and local power was restored to Northern Ireland at midnight last night. Ahead of the formal reinstatement of the institutions of the Belfast Agreement at midnight, the Ulster Unionist First Minister, Mr David Trimble, yesterday said he hoped that Northern Ireland had crossed the Rubicon to political stability.
The SDLP Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, said it was crucially important that hope be created in Northern Ireland again without politicians becoming immersed in "niggling, divisive" issues.
Mr Trimble and Mr Mallon spent much of yesterday at Stormont finalising arrangements for the restoration of the political institutions, including the Assembly, the Executive, the North-South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council.
Most of the 10 Executive ministers were returning early to their departments this morning. Their officials already had prepared work schedules for them.
Absent from their respective offices in the Department of Regional Development and the Department of Social Development are DUP ministers Mr Peter Robinson and Mr Nigel Dodds.
Mr Robinson said "by law" they were ministers, which could only be overturned by their resigning. The DUP's 12 party officers are due to meet at Stormont at lunchtime today to decide whether or not Mr Robinson and Mr Dodds should return to their ministries.
They will carry a recommendation about which decision to take to a meeting of the DUP's 90-member executive at party headquarters in east Belfast tonight. The issue is said to have exposed divisions within the party.
Political insiders said the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, and the Rev William McCrea believed the party should not return to government, while Mr Robinson and Mr Dodds favoured resuming their ministerial functions.
If they resign, the UUP and Alliance Party will be allocated the ministries.
The Executive is to meet on Thursday, when one of the first contentious issues will be the hoisting of the Union flag over departmental buildings 20 days per year.
Mr Mallon said flags was a difficult issue but he hoped it could eventually be resolved.
He also anticipated an early move, possibly before the end of June, from the IRA in allowing the weapons inspectors view its arms dumps.
Meanwhile Mr John Taylor, the UUP deputy leader, has refused to disclose the contents of a letter from the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, which he told the Ulster Unionist Council on Saturday contained assurances on flags and the RUC.
