A journalist wanted to ask this question of Peter Mandelson when he gave his high noon press conference at Castle Buildings, Stormont, yesterday: "Mr Mandelson, you've now met the Ulster Unionist Party and Sinn Fein - any regrets on your appointment?"
The reporter, probably wisely, bottled out. Mr Mandelson didn't. The new Northern Secretary, a couple of hours into his Belfast brief had indeed held talks with David Trimble and Martin McGuinness, and later faced encounters with Seamus Mallon and the Rev Ian Paisley. He was treating it all very earnestly.
Mr Mandelson swapped his beaming smile of Monday when he was appointed by his buddy Tony Blair to a demeanour gravely in tune with the serious politics ahead. But there was no doubting that this was an energetic politician delighted to be in from the New Labour cold and itching to get on with the business.
It would take more than Mr Trimble and Mr McGuinness re-rehearsing their entrenched positions on government and guns to rattle him. It's too early to predict whether with the passage of time the "Northern problem" will deflate his eagerness, as it has done for several of his predecessors.
With the Mitchell review entering its closing stages, Mr Mandelson will have a short honeymoon period. He left no one in any doubt yesterday of where he stands on the Belfast Agreement.
"There is no alternative to the Good Friday agreement. There is no plan B. It is that or nothing."
There has been much levity, particularly from Dr Paisley, about Mr Mandelson with his previous high mortgage problems now having free bed and board at the grand Hillsborough Castle, just outside Belfast. But he has yet to lay his head there, because after a busy round of meetings and engagements yesterday, he flew back to London - with his red ministerial boxes filled to the brim with briefing notes that will keep him working deep into the night.
It was clear as Mr Mandelson and Dr Mo Mowlam stood together on the steps of Castle Buildings yesterday that Northern Ireland is going to be treated to a difference in style, if not in substance. Where Mo Mowlam was informal, Mr Mandelson, with a certain aloofness and plummy accent, is more in the urbane mould of Sir Patrick Mayhew.
On his stroll through Belfast city centre yesterday afternoon, he appeared a little uncomfortable. It was a far cry from the rousing walkabout Dr Mowlam did on her first day in city over two years ago. But nonetheless, Mr Mandelson was accorded a civil and friendly reception, despite a few cries of "Bring back Mo".
Most people in Northern Ireland recognise that jobs don't come much more difficult than that of Northern Secretary. They were prepared to give him a fair wind.
The leader of the Conservative Party, Mr William Hague, was not so generous: he told the BBC in London that Mr Blair had shown "tremendous arrogance" in returning Mr Mandelson to Cabinet. "We will work with him, we will encourage other parties in Northern Ireland to work with him, but we are entitled to say this about him and his appointment:
"If Roland Rat was appointed Northern Ireland Secretary I would say everyone should work with him, but I would still point out he was a rat."
Mr Mandelson is said to be as sharp of mind and mouth as he is of face, but there were no heated words yesterday. He appeared careful in his dealings with Sinn Fein, the UUP, the DUP and the SDLP, sounding out what they had to say, working his way quickly into his new post.
He paid generous tribute to his predecessor, but implied with a touch of arrogance that he was there because Mr Blair realised he was the best man for the job.
Dr Mowlam appeared in better form yesterday that on Monday when she looked very downbeat on learning she was being shifted back to London, just as the Mitchell review reaches endgame. It was a case of ring out the old, ring in the new, as in the morning her papers were bundled into a big Range Rover for transport to London, while in the afternoon a removal van starting bringing her successor's files into Castle Buildings.
Officials at the Northern Ireland Office came out at noon yesterday to applaud Dr Mowlam and wish her well on her way. After the press conference, it was the most natural thing in the world that she should work her way along the ranks of journalists to shake their hands and exchange good wishes. She also paid an emotional farewell to the staff. It was a sad moment - Dr Mowlam made many friends here.
Now the North has a new act - a "class act and a big hitter", according to those who know him well. All the politicians who met him yesterday - including Dr Paisley, who is bitterly opposed to the Belfast Agreement - showed respect for Mr Mandelson.
There will be hard verbal scraps ahead, but all the protagonists seemed energised by the arrival of the new man. As one official put it, "At least he'll liven things up again."