Sketch/Michael O'Regan:Gerry Adams felt the heat as he delivered his leader's address to delegates at the Sinn Féin Ardfheis on Saturday afternoon.
As the rhetoric flowed, the pressure intensified. The delegates felt it, too. It was a hothouse atmosphere in the library of the RDS. Eventually, the pressure became too much for Mr Adams, and he yielded to unstoppable forces.
He removed his jacket, placing it at his feet. But the heat was no more than an excess of central heating. Mr Adams and the leadership sailed through the conference, unchallenged and feeling no pressure from delegates.
Television viewers, meanwhile, must have been mystified to see Mr Adams start wearing a jacket and later continue with just a shirt and tie. Speech over, Mr Adams stood for the national anthem, and as delegates prepared to leave the hall, he urged them to do their best in this week's election in the North and in the Republic's summer election.
The elections dominated the conference. The contributions to debates of election candidates coincided with the live television coverage.
As well as the peace process, Mr Adams dealt with issues such as the health services and the economy in his speech. And he made it clear that Sinn Féin was ready for government, North and South.
A Bandon, Co Cork, motion ruling out a post-election coalition with Fianna Fáil, was overwhelmingly defeated on the advice of the leadership.
The party's Dáil leader, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, reminded delegates that it would be up to party members to decide if Sinn Féin should enter a coalition arrangement after the election. "Now that is something you should retain," he added.
The only delegate to speak in favour of the motion was Jackie Phelan from Portlaw, Co Waterford, a popular ardfheis attender. As always, he did not disappoint, and even Mr Adams smiled when he rebuked the leadership for ambiguity on the coalition issue.
Delegates cheered, as Mr Phelan said: "The greatest betrayal of all by Fianna Fáil was the extradition of republicans into the hands of a British system which was found guilty of torture by the European Court of Human Rights."
However, when the vote came, the vast majority of them backed Mr Ó Caoláin's view. The same Mr Ó Caoláin, recovering from a recent illness, got one of the biggest cheers of the weekend when he remarked: "My fellow republicans, when I say it is great to be here, I really mean it."
With Mr Adams declaring the war was over, much of the language of the weekend was moderate in tone.
In the nearby shop, however, delegates could buy a T-shirt with the slogan: "I still hate Thatcher." Memorabilia marking the hunger strikes were placed on the walls of the canteen.
Overall, the focus was on the elections. Dublin South East candidate Daithí Doolan, in a variation of the Danny Morrison edict, urged delegates to have "a union card in one hand and a ballot paper in the other".