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May 8th: The view from the basement

Mark Devenport
26 Mar 07, 03:54 PM

I've just grabbed a moment's peace and quiet in the Stormont basement before busying myself with our teatime programmes. Two storeys above me - in the first floor members dining room, talks between the parties are still continuing. But nothing to compare with this morning's Paisley Adams encounter in the same room.

Concerns about today's deadline being broken have been brushed aside as people come to terms with that startling image of the Sinn Fein President and the DUP leader sitting just feet apart, reading from remarkably similar scripts, telling their supporters that the time has come to build a better future.

The six week delay appears to have been finally agreed during proximity talks which took place inside Stormont Castle yesterday. It's understood officials shuttled back and forth between Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness. The DUP's demand for a delay gave Sinn Fein some bargaining power, but they didn't want to pull the plug on a power sharing executive or to see their voters getting their water bills. Now they get a running in period and another photo opportunity closer to the Irish elections.

So no water bills, and a day of emergency legislation in Westminster tomorrow. Asked about whatever happened to his deadline, Peter Hain proclaimed his insousiance "Do I look embarrassed, do I look disappointed?" It sounded a bit like Catherine Tate's "Am I bovvered?" But in truth the civil servants really think they've got more than they bargained for.

May 8th is our new date. That's the 62nd anniversary of Victory in Europe or VE Day. So is this Victory in Ireland Day or Victory in Ulster Day? I suppose it depends which side of the diamond shaped table in the Stormont Members Dining Room you were sitting on. They say this government is going to be a "battle a day". But maybe just like on VE Day we can say that the war looks nearly over.

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