"We have as much chance of occupying half the seats on that platform as I have of being Bill Clinton's next conquest." Elaine McClure, a feisty delegate from Newry, was speaking at last weekend's conference of the Ulster Unionist Party in Derry. The debate was on a motion which ended with the words: "This party is perceived as an all-male bastion; that should change so that our public image reflects our membership and our electorate more accurately."
For any woman reporter who has over long years attended many political conferences, much of what was said was familiar, though none the less important. The speakers described a political system and a party where men "drift" into positions of power and influence as of right, often following in their father's footsteps.
Intelligent, capable women are relegated to making the tea, stuffing envelopes, organising fund-raising events. One delegate pointed out that there were 184 Ulster Unionist members of local councils, of whom 22 are women. In the new Assembly, for all the promises of a new and more egalitarian future, only two of the UUP's elected representatives are women.
There was a real sense of anger, none the less scathing for being delivered with wit. One woman told the assembled delegates: "I'm 34 years old. I've a good brain and I'm articulate. I have no desire to go into the kitchen and do clever things with buttermilk and soda bread."
The argument was conducted in ladylike language, no call to the sisters to storm the platform. But there was talk of quotas in future Assembly elections. One speaker referred, approvingly, to the efforts the SDLP has made to encourage women into politics, though she stopped short of praising Sinn Fein, which will probably have the first woman minister in the new executive, when that is finally formed.
It was, in short, a debate one has heard at other party conferences. What was hopeful here was the way these women looked to the future, staking their claim to play a part in shaping it. It was important that David Trimble went out of his way to recognise their right to be taken seriously.
There had been gloomy predictions that the conference would be sparsely attended, that David Trimble's critics within the UUP, having been disconcerted by the award to him of the Nobel Peace Prize, would not seek an open confrontation on decommissioning or the future of the Belfast Agreement. In fact, the hall was packed to the point where it was difficult to get a seat. This was true even of the final question-and-answer session.
This yielded one of the day's most interesting discussions, on the future relationship between the UUP and the Orange Order. There was an almost general consensus that the time had come to end the relationship, although the sole woman panellist warned that this would have to be done with sensitivity: "You needed the order in the past . . ."
But a debate on the RUC's future demonstrated vividly the grief and bitterness which still runs deep in the unionist community from 30 years of conflict. Reference was made to the "300 forgotten heroes, who gave their lives and for what?" These are painful emotions which, inevitably, spill over into any discussion of the decommissioning issue.
David Trimble has been criticised, mainly by nationalists, for having painted himself into a corner over the hand-over of paramilitary weapons and his insistence that Sinn Fein cannot be given seats in any new executive until there is some movement by the IRA.
We know the text of the Belfast Agreement is on the side of Sinn Fein. Listening to the speeches at last weekend's conference, and talking to delegates outside the hall, it seemed fairer to say that, given the views of his own party members, he has held the line with some courage and skill.
Paramilitary weapons are an issue which touches on the most sensitive of raw nerves in the unionist political community. Trimble's hope must be that in this, as in other areas, time will prove to be a healer and that the argument, if not entirely resolved, will come to seem less important.
His close supporters admit that the Ulster Unionist leader's aim is to play decommissioning on a very long string indeed. The Taoiseach has already conceded that the original deadline for setting up the new executive by the end of this month will not be met. The talk now is of having a "real" executive in place by February, but even this may not prove to be enough time for progress to be made on decommissioning.
Mr Trimble himself has referred to Gen de Chastelain's role in the situation, but the most skilful negotiator cannot deliver solutions unless the will is there on both sides to find them.
There are other factors which could influence the situation and, as important, the political mood on both sides. We have seen one example this week of how this can happen, when Dr Conor Cruise O'Brien's latest intervention in the politics of the North served to weaken the political credibility of Bob McCartney, until now the most intellectually formidable of David Trimble's critics.
Any further dissensions among opponents of the agreement will strengthen the Ulster Unionist leader's hand. On the republican side there is the hope that visible progress on other issues, for example on RUC reform, might help to draw some positive response on arms from the IRA.
But both governments know the problem will not go away. Decommissioning, and John Major's stance on it, contributed greatly to the breakdown of the first IRA ceasefire, and there must be fears that this could happen again. Tony Blair will be acutely conscious of accusations of bad faith if progress is not made towards the forming of an executive.
There are undoubtedly some unionists who would not be unhappy if the IRA ceasefire did break down. It would allow them to say that the Belfast Agreement was a fraud, designed to appease terrorists, and broke down as soon as the concessions stopped. But that was not the mood of most of the people at last weekend's conference of the Ulster Unionist Party.
On the contrary, there was a sense of achievement in the accord, and of ownership not always evident in the past. One speaker who voiced his disapproval of power-sharing was treated to a robust riposte from the floor: "Away back 50 years." This is a party which is beginning to accept that there is a better future on offer.