No decisions were made about the future of the IRA or criminality, writes Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor.
The appearance of the McCartney sisters at the Sinn Féin Ardfheis injected some high drama. An electric moment, it was high risk all round. Was it the height of cynicism by Gerry Adams? Or a brave, generous and cathartic moment where Adams was subliminally instructing the IRA that it must go away.
Who will gain most from Paula, Catherine, Gemma, Donna and Clare McCartney taking the front seat at the conference for Mr Adams's keynote address on Saturday will take a little time to answer.
If some of the 70 people who saw Robert McCartney fatally stabbed are allowed to pass beyond the law of republican omerta and help convict his killers, then the risk the McCartneys took will have been worth it.
It will be the same positive answer if the killers heed Gerry Adams's call to make themselves accountable, even if, listening to all the comments from republicans in recent weeks, that will somehow involve bypassing the police - another unresolved issue at the weekend.
The implications of the McCartneys travelling to Dublin could even be of wider significance if Saturday was the day when Adams implicitly delivered a profound message to the IRA that this is the defining moment to cross from the Armalite and the ballot box to the ballot box alone.
But if none of these scenarios unfold, then all the sisters' appearance will amount to is a propaganda coup for republicans. Certainly the TV coverage and newspaper shots of the McCartneys sitting with and then listening to Adams made quite an impact.
A significant number of people, as was apparent in The Irish Times/TNSmrbi poll, were losing faith in Adams and Sinn Féin and some must have had that faith at least partially restored.
However, this could also be a temporary little achievement for Adams. If in the weeks ahead nobody is brought to book for Robert McCartney's murder, then this 100th anniversary Sinn Féin Ardfheis could come back to haunt the Sinn Féin president and leadership. It will be viewed as the worst of stunts, a cruel stunt.
And if in the months ahead we are still being subjected to impenetrable language from republicans which - with the right wind and the planets in alliance - just might be construed as the IRA being prepared to fade away, then the notion of this being a purifying moment for the IRA will also evaporate.
So which is it? It's impossible to tell because although Adams may have issued subliminal messages, he didn't issue direct ones. It would have been a defining moment if delegates travelled home last night conscious that come the autumn a deal would be feasible again and that that would involve the IRA unequivocally bringing down the shutters on all activity and dismantling its arsenal.
We got hints and some rhetorical flourishes from Gerry Adams and his senior colleagues over the weekend of such possibilities ahead but nothing truly concrete.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern called the ardfheis perfectly in Naas on Thursday when he indicated that on the key issue of whether the IRA would take the required initiative to reopen the possibility of a deal we would be as informed entering the conference as we were leaving it.
In terms of the peace process Adams spoke again of hard choices and decisions for republicans, of republicans having to stretch themselves, of taking risks, but of progress only happening collectively with the governments and unionists having their part to play.
But are we any nearer the IRA shutting shop? The weekend didn't tell us.
Beyond the republican mindset ordinary people can't figure out whether their notion of criminality in any way marries with how republicans view the issue. Following the murder of Robert McCartney, the Northern Bank robbery, and the allegations of Mafia-scale IRA money laundering, reasonable fears are being expressed about republican criminality and arrogance irreparably corrupting society, North and South.
To be sure Adams and his colleagues hammered home to delegates that the IRA and Sinn Féin must not be tarnished with allegations of criminality, most particularly over Robert McCartney's murder. But to republicans what constitutes criminality? Adams partially addressed this conundrum as well. "We know what a crime is both in the moral and legal sense, and our view is the same as the majority of people. We know that breaking the law is a crime," he said.
But then came rider: "But we refuse to criminalise those who break the law in pursuit of legitimate political objectives." We're still back to the Kafkaesque concept of republicans alone defining what is a crime.
On the other key issue, policing, it was interesting that the conference rejected motions that would have barred Sinn Féin from endorsing policing until a united Ireland was achieved or until the British government declared its intention to "withdraw from Ireland".
Sinn Féin's policing spokesman Gerry Kelly also spoke of republicans having to confront "shibboleths and sacred cows" sometime down the road, such as, endorsing the PSNI. Equally though, Sinn Féin in practical terms didn't advance its position on policing.
So is the IRA prepared to go away? Maybe. Is Sinn Féin prepared to acknowledge that IRA criminality is corrupting society, and more importantly that it must do something about it? Maybe. Might they sign up to policing? Ditto.
In essence, beyond the drama of the McCartneys, the weekend was a Sinn Féin holding operation, an occasion to rally the troops. It seems that the big decisions on the big issues won't be made until a deal is in prospect, which could be a long time away.
More was expected of the ardfheis, and republicans are still where they put themselves, in a corner.