Whatever else may have been in doubt, no one could have been under any illusion about the role of the Provisional IRA in the week's events.
The Irish and British governments had combined to frame a set of proposals that would make it possible for the Northern parties to complete the Belfast Agreement. But because decommissioning is the key to its completion, the Provisionals have the power to make or break the deal.
Rarely have so few, with so little popular support, had such control over the way in which so many are to be governed.
The irony is that in republican theology this is as it ought to be: the IRA's executive - the army council - is the government of Ireland. This was, at any rate, what the IRA ordained almost 80 years ago.
Then, some who had fought in the War of Independence judged that the members of the second Dail were making a hash of politics and decided to take a hand - to reassert the primacy of armed struggle and of those who'd been in the thick of it.
Eighty years on, at the start of the 21st century and in fully-fledged democracies, the idea that paramilitaries of any hue, however disguised, should have the final say on arrangements for democratic government is simply bizarre.
Yet here we are, waiting for half a dozen unidentified people to make up their minds about proposals devised by two governments to be put to parties elected by all of the people of Northern Ireland.
What really gives this unelected few the right to decide how the many should be governed is their control over a well-stocked arsenal and a highly organised force prepared to use it. And what gives this paramilitary force its political edge is its partnership with Sinn Fein.
The partnership is often dismissed or denied by Sinn Fein leaders. But without it, would the party have been awarded a key role in the politics of Northern Ireland, including participation in the Executive?
Would its leaders have won attention and support from some of the most powerful politicians in the world? Would they have been introduced to the White House in the hope of encouraging participation in democratic politics?
And would the major parties in the Republic have found themselves looking to the next general election with the unease described by Mark Hennessy in his carefully understated articles in The Irish Times this week?
Because the partnership of political and paramilitary forces that is the republican movement has now reached a point where it not only holds the key to agreement in Northern Ireland - it could play a decisive role in the next Dail as well.
But the major parties have yet to learn the lessons of their defeat in the Nice referendum by a makeshift alliance which mobilised the discontent felt across a wide front - in some areas far removed from the treaty or European affairs.
Sinn Fein, in particular, had an organisation that was well funded and well staffed, capable of winning widespread publicity and securing invaluable campaign experience while avoiding exposure to accusations of hypocrisy or inconsistency.
Indeed, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour and the Progressive Democrats had for so long avoided anything that might be mistaken for confrontation with Sinn Fein that they avoided even the most obvious criticism.
No one asked how the party could object so strenuously to military alliances abroad when it resolutely maintained a close and unquestioned paramilitary alliance at home.
Just as no one asked why republicans' attachment to the Constitution had never run to acknowledgement that the Army - Oglaigh na hEireann - was the only body which held the right to bear arms in this State.
Nor did any spokesman for the major parties dare inquire why the highly praised expertise and resources of the Criminal Assets Bureau had never been trained on the assets of paramilitary organisations.
Defeat in the referendum and the sturdy performance of Sinn Fein in the polls may lead to a change of tactics next time around. Pre-election manoeuvres have already begun and there have been some unusual shifts of emphasis in unexpected quarters.
Charlie McCreevy and Mary Harney have suddenly discovered that public services are as important to many as tax cuts are to their immediate friends. By the same token, Micheal Martin has decided that, after 4 1/2 years in office, it's time the Coalition had a decent health policy.
Sinn Fein is already well placed to win support both in the inner cities and in the bleaker suburbs. And when Bertie Ahern turns his attention to political standards - as he does with unfailing regularity every three or four years - he will find Sinn Fein in the field before him.
The party has already gained support among younger voters for its claim that the "establishment parties" are "all the same". The daily news from the tribunals underlines the need for a clean-up in public life.
Now, if only the republicans were really smart and, instead of waiting any longer for pressure from outside, completed decommissioning and disbanded the IRA.