A leading businessman and supporter of the peace process likes to tell the story of the old French general who asked his gardener one day how long it would take to grow a particular tree. "A hundred years," the gardener said. The general replied: "We'd better plant it right away."
The parable illustrates the nationalist attitude to the institutions envisaged under the Belfast Agreement.
It will take a long time to end division and create a society based on justice and equality, so let's get cracking right now.
The attitude of many unionists is different. They believe there is little for their community to gain from this process: it is about appeasing nationalists so that the IRA will stop bombing London.
This mindset probably lay behind the stand-offish attitude of unionists to the multi-party talks at Castle Buildings.
A similar mindset is reflected in the reluctance to nominate ministers to the key institution under the Belfast Agreement, the Northern Ireland executive.
Unionists feel they have given a lot and will probably have to give more. They are determined not to take this next and crucial step until the IRA has come up with tangible proof that it is serious about decommissioning.
The conference resounded with tough talk on the weapons issue. There has been tough talking from the UUP before but the problem was still by-passed in the end. Dissidents in the UUP claim the party has had six different stances on decommissioning in three years.
Mr Trimble's speech was tough, although a leading peace process insider remarked that it could have been a lot tougher and noted that the UUP leader "didn't box himself into any more corners".
A passage underlined in Mr Trimble's script, and which excited the interest of those who scrutinise these things with the care and attention of a Talmudic scribe, concerned Gen John de Chastelain, head of the decommissioning body set up under the agreement.
In a reference to his political rival and leader of the UK Unionists, Mr Trimble said: "Why is it that Bob McCartney goes to the Decommissioning Commission and tells Gen de Chastelain that he must sit and do nothing? Does he really want disarmament and an end to violence or is he putting sectional interest, his self-interest, first?"
This was a reference to Mr McCartney's announcement at a press conference last Tuesday that he was meeting the general to tell him he had no political role and should confine himself to the military, technical task of identifying and supervising the destruction of weapons.
Mr Trimble's words suggest that he has a broader view of the general's function. The text of the agreement requires the de Chastelain commission to monitor progress on decommissioning and report to both governments at regular intervals.
A statement from the general has been expected for some time. It is thought highly unlikely, to put it no stronger, that he will be in a position to say that IRA weapons have been handed in and destroyed.
Republicans have probably told him, as they have told members of the press, that the weapons and explosives ("the blowy gear") are in dumps and in that sense out of commission, and will not fall into the wrong hands.
The agreement requires the parties to work "constructively" with the decommissioning body. The general's report will show whether he believes Sinn Fein and the loyalist parties are fulfilling that requirement.
By his comments, Mr Trimble in effect put the weight of overcoming the dilemma on the military man's shoulders.
In that context, it was interesting to hear Mr Ken Maginnis once again claiming that his party was the original source of the idea of a decommissioning body.
There is still optimism in official circles that the problem can be "sorted", but no hard decision has been taken yet on bringing the Prime Minister in this week. Soundings will be taken over the next few days: there is no point in sending for Mr Blair unless there is a realistic chance of a settlement.
There is a curious dissonance between London and Dublin on the October 31st deadline. Mr Ahern is quoted as saying it will not be met, whereas Mr Blair insists he has not given up on it.
Dublin is reportedly running short of ideas, but London says it still has a few arrows left in its quiver. As in the days before Good Friday, London seems to be ahead of Dublin in the optimism stakes.
The main talking point in conversations outside the conference hall on Saturday was the statement by Mr Jim Wilson, the party's chief whip in the Assembly, who told BBC Radio 4: "It just may be that on decommissioning a mistake has been made in regard to being so firm."
Mr Wilson later reiterated the official party position, but the hare he had started still kept running. A measured, cautious and careful man, he would easily win any contest for Person Least Likely to Talk out of Turn.
While most observers believe he was not reflecting the leader's views, it is thought likely his opinion is shared by some elements in the upper reaches of the UUP.
The hostility towards the Union First grouping at the party conference was very striking. The need for unity was a constant theme which was regularly applauded from the floor.
This no doubt helped to strengthen Mr Trimble's position, although there have been reports of discontented unionists meeting in private to discuss the future of the party and its leadership. Plots, it is said, are being hatched, but the plotters are having difficulty deciding on a credible alternative to Mr Trimble. The most popular choice at the moment is, perhaps surprisingly, not Mr Jeffrey Donaldson but Mr John Taylor.