It's the day after the official blooding. Peter Mandelson has had his first full-scale battle with the unionists and survived. A model of cool efficiency, the Secretary of State looks as if he's been at the Northern Ireland Office forever.
Disappointingly there is no sign of Bobby, his pet retriever, save for some newspapers and a toy on the floor close to the master's desk. He had a bit of a tummy upset yesterday, confides Mr Mandelson, leaving unclear whether this was provoked by the unionist reactions over the Patten report on policing. Surprisingly absent from Mr Mandelson's Commons statement on Wednesday was any reference to Patten's proposal that substantial policing powers should be devolved to the Assembly. The Secretary of State explains a reference to this survived to the penultimate draft, then fell for reasons of length.
It is, nonetheless, a hugely important aspect of Patten. Had any of the party leaders, and Mr Trimble in particular, raised it with him? Mr Mandelson says not: "It hasn't been raised with me . . . No, it was not amongst the points that David Trimble pressed me on during our discussions. He was vociferous and unrelenting over the name of the RUC, and returned to the argument again and again."
Would Mr Mandelson favour such devolution, how quickly might it happen, and would it help address what Mr Trimble has described as the problem of "the mafia society"?
On the latter, Mr Mandelson says it would, "but the Executive needs to mature before that is possible." Just as he was reluctant to overburden local councils with a policing role - which was why he constrained the district policing partnership boards - "I don't want to over-burden the Executive with a subject that divides opinions sharply, tends to polarise more than say health, education or agriculture. "In principle I accept it, and I will feel that devolution has really taken-off when I can pass over responsibility for policing."
Before devolution can really claim lift-off, of course, the issue of decommissioning has to be resolved. Mr Trimble says there was a clear understanding in the Mitchell Review that decommissioning would start by January 31st, and that he was proceeding into the Executive on that basis. Does Mr Mandelson share the First Minister's understanding?
"Broadly yes. I wouldn't describe it as an understanding, but I do think it was understood by the parties that if the unionists went first and agreed to devolution, decommissioning would follow."
Mr Trimble also says if Gende Chastelain cannot report a commencement by the end of the month Mr Mandelson must declare a "default" and suspend the Executive and other institutions. Will he?
Mr Mandelson doesn't want to rush his fences. He hopes Gen de Chastelain will be positive because he understands the implications "if his report shows no progress". Mr Trimble, however, says he doesn't want progress but a start. Are they agreed January 31st is the first deadline for default?
"I'm not setting deadlines of any sort. Default is not something you can pin a time on, it is an action not a piece of sequencing. But we will be able to judge the situation when we hear what Gen de Chastelain has to say."
Then, he adds: "That [de Chastelain's report] is the critical next move. It makes the meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council relatively unimportant. I don't regard that as a great staging post. What is important is what de Chastelain has to say, and we will need to draw our conclusions from the content of his report."
While resisting the invitation to speculate further, Mr Mandelson makes it plain the British and Irish governments are "the guardians of these institutions" and he is "not going to abdicate the responsibility that I have".
Assuming all goes well, how does the Northern Ireland Secretary see the future developing? Is this, as the unionists think, the final settlement or, as nationalist Ireland might wish, a process leading to ever-deepening relationships between North and South?
"As far as we can see, the Good Friday Agreement is the end settlement. It enshrines the principle of consent - that is the cornerstone of the new dispensation. At the same time I would like to see relations between North and South deepen. So many of our economic interests coincide, and in certain economic respects the Border is becoming less visible."
THIS is not a constitutional observation, says Mr Mandelson, because "consent" is "the governing idea". But does he understand unionist fears that the South might not see it as the end settlement, and might press for the constant expansion of areas for co-operation?
Mr Mandelson says he sees no sign of it: "But it wouldn't worry me if they were pressing. I'm very confident about the robustness of the arrangements we have . . . People can press. It doesn't mean others have to concede."
Might the grand project be inhibited if the Blair government decides for the longer term that Britain should remain outside the single currency?
Mr Mandelson agrees "it creates a problem for the North because Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border with the rest of Europe."
This raises economic, fiscal issues that don't reach the rest of the United Kingdom. "That's not an argument regardless of any other consideration for Britain entering the single currency, but it's a sharper, more immediate issue for Northern Ireland."
And is it one he will be urging on Mr Blair in his consideration of the issue? Mr Mandelson replies: "Well, it's not a big issue, it's more pressing for us than elsewhere in the United Kingdom. It's not yet a dominant issue, and if it's right for me to introduce that consideration in the future I will, but I haven't and don't propose to do so at the moment."
Pressing into the post-devolution debate in Britain is a suspicion that the treasury - its eye mainly on Scotland - might take a more stringent approach to public spending disparities between the various parts of the UK. Might Northern Ireland be caught in the crossfire?
Mr Mandelson says that hasn't shown-up on his radar screen, and insists: "There's a very strong commitment throughout the government, including the treasury, to easing the path of peace, political progress and reconstruction in the North." But "never backward in coming forward" to defend the interests of those he represents, he says he will be "vigilant."
The Celtic Tiger presents the North with opportunity rather than threat. "There is a dynamism there, an enterprise, a sense of entrepreneurialism which I would really like to spread northward. I think a modern economic Irish brand is emerging and I would like to see the North capitalise on that."
MR Mandelson readily admits he has not yet worked out the "how" of it, but he is turning it over in his mind, exploring the issue and concentrating the attentions of those with more direct responsibility in Northern Ireland.
Ending where we began - on symbolism - I ask Mr Mandelson if he would like to see the Republic joining the Commonwealth. "It's not my business to say, but I wouldn't be disappointed if they did." And again - extending beyond his official brief - when might we witness Queen Elizabeth's first official visit to the Republic? Mr Mandelson knows his royal etiquette. It is not for him to speculate about dates ahead of the sovereign. But he suspects "she would like to go" and has no doubt it would be a beneficial experience for unionists and nationalists alike.