One OF the chief movers and shakers in the peace process remarked recently that journalists in Northern Ireland today had the chance to write "the first draft of history".
But let future historians beware: the fourth estate is still excluded from the formal deliberations and has to rely on the leaks and interpretations emanating from the various participants.
Like a certain brand of tomato ketchup, there are 57 different varieties of "spin" being put on the set of propositions placed before the parties by the two governments on Monday.
The great talks cliche is that "the devil is in the detail" and there is a diabolical cleverness about some of the formulations in the British-Irish paper.
One keeps coming back to the all-important section on the North/South ministerial council. Anti-talks unionists have said this body will in fact have the executive powers sought by nationalists because the two governments' paper states that it will "take decisions". Republican sceptics counter by pointing out that such decisions would be "within the mandate of, and accountable to, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Oireachtas respectively". They foresee a situation where the unionist parties in the assembly will hold the North-South council on a choking leash.
There are differing views of the importance of the so-called "council of the isles" and the influence it might have over the cross-Border body.
Mr David Trimble appeared to draw comfort from the fact that the council was mentioned ahead of any cross-Border arrangements, making it "clearly the first and most important element" in a new British-Irish agreement. But Mr Peter Robinson of the Democratic Unionists dismissed the inter-island council as "a luncheon-club for politicians".
Sinn Fein is clearly unhappy with the trend of events but is gritting its teeth and staying with the negotiations. The party's grassroots is dismayed by what it sees as a retreat by the two governments from the strong cross-Border arrangements recommended in the framework document.
There would be an obvious temptation for the Sinn Fein leadership to pull out of the talks. But although the party has suffered a diplomatic and political setback it is clearly intent on fighting its corner for the time being at least. As revolutionaries they may recall Lenin's advice when a party has to take a position its followers do not fully understand: "Patiently explain."
There will need to be a lot of patient explaining. Well-informed talks insiders insist that the activities of the North/South council cannot be frustrated by the assembly because ministers and civil servants taking part in it will have a "duty of service" obliging them to make it work.
They also point to a provision in the framework document which hints at a type of "failsafe mechanism" that could be brought into operation if cross-Border co-operation was being mischievously frustrated.
A considerable amount of work has been done by officials on issues like cross-Border co-operation. "There are papers out there," one talks insider said, and some of these might be introduced to the negotiations at a later stage. For now, however, the priority was to "bed down" the participants in discussion of the three strands of internal, cross-Border and British-Irish relations.
Sinn Fein may be going through a rough patch at the moment, but even its enemies know the party leadership has been around a long time and has probably considered scenarios such as the present one before now. Already it is flaggingup its concerns and it will not be surprising to see the two governments and the SDLP moving to provide reassurance in the coming weeks.
There was a distinct morning-after feeling at Castle Buildings yesterday. After the high drama of the day before, reporters had to pick about like chickens in the rain, seeking morsels of news.
All the parties took the stance that had more or less been forecast the day before. SDLP sources claimed an axis of sorts was developing between themselves and the Ulster Unionists. "The challenge for us is keeping the Provos on board, the challenge for the UUP is keeping the fringe loyalists (`fringies') in the talks."
Amid the violence and the microphone caterwauling that all too often takes the place of political life here, the talks have also started to acquire some dignity with parties beginning to behave like members of a real parliament. The tragic death of Terry Enright affected both Mr Gerry Adams and Mr David Ervine and it is understood condolences were offered by the talks participants in general, including the Ulster Unionists who expressed sympathy with "those in the talks process who had relatives killed recently".