Politicians here - Fianna Fail in particular - will be paying attention to the goings-on at the Sinn Fein Ardfheis in the RDS next weekend. And it won't be just decommissioning that will interest them. For several years now, Sinn Fein, having broken into mainstream politics in the North, has been casting an eye South. Many members believe they can achieve their aim of winning four or five seats at the next election, due within two years, entering a coalition with FF (the only party likely to accept them), holding the balance of power and taking a seat in Cabinet. In other words, replacing the PDs in strength and influence.
But achieving that is not as simple as winning seats. Sinn Fein has to convince its followers that coalition in the South is the way forward. A month ago, at a mini-ardfheis in Dublin City University, there were open and closed sessions. In public, all was very much in accord, but at the closed sessions there was serious argument about the course party president, Gerry Adams, and the leadership were adopting.
As well as criticism over the collapse of the Assembly and lack of political direction, there was disagreement between Northern and Southern delegates about entering government in the Republic. The Northerners were much in favour, having done it already, but the Southerners were against it on the grounds that Sinn Fein stands for a 32-county socialist republic and FF is neither socialist nor, after dropping Articles 2 and 3, all-Ireland. The leadership believes that Sinn Fein TDs or indeed Cabinet ministers would have considerably more clout internationally than MLAs or abstentionist MPs.
The ideological debate, which entails the balance of being hardline in the North but moderate in the South to pick up seats, is being fought out within the party. Hence the interest here on which side wins next weekend. Probably the dominant Northerners.