We are moving into uncharted territory, a phase of international politics we have never really dealt with before. The north-eastern portion of Ireland used to be ruled from London, with almost no power over its own future. Now we are next door to an entity no one even has a name for. Power has been devolved to a local administration but it is not a discrete state. Some control has been retained by the British government, but it is no longer merely part of the United Kingdom.
If all proceeds according to plan with the cross-Border bodies, some influence over Northern Ireland's development will be exerted by Dublin, but it certainly isn't on the same footing as, say, Munster. The most appropriate term would appear to be semi-state, but that's been taken.
Whatever it is to be called it exists and it has an administration. That administration is also moving into uncharted territory, or at least territory none of its members have visited before. The members of the new administration have not been ministers before. That in itself would mean they have an steep learning curve facing them. The fact that this is not an administration made up of a single party, but a coalition of parties, unionist and nationalist, turns that curve into a near vertical climb.
Any new minister, has to make themselves familiar with the issues involved in the running of a whole section of the life of a state. They need to familiarise themselves with the key players - interest groups, companies, state bodies and civil service functionaries. Having done this, they have to devise a policy, a strategy to develop the sector they've just become familiar with that doesn't stray too far from the party's election manifesto.
Except this is not a single-party government, there is no manifesto to either stick to or be guided by and each sector has, until now, been administered on a completely different basis.
These new ministers are going to find themselves trying to put their thumbs on a blob of mercury - actually a number of blobs.
The second blob is the day-today business of being a minister. They need to get familiar with both the official and unofficial ways business is carried out in government.
There are the relatively simple set procedural matters. In the Dail, this would cover items like Green and White papers, the framing of legislation, committees and so on. On this front they have a degree of welcome leeway - because they are the first they can invent the procedures that work best for themselves. What will be more problematic will be the less official methods of doing business, and this does not mean the pulling of fast ones.
For example, Minister A has a proposal she wants to bring to the cabinet table for approval. Rather than waste a large chunk of time during the cabinet meeting, that minister should brief the various members of the team separately and explain why the person they are talking to should support it. Speaking from experience, this task can by quite complex even when you are dealing with members of your own party.
NOW imagine what it will be like for Martin McGuinness having to sit down with Peter Robinson to try to persuade him that some new educational initiative should receive his support.
On top of the history of enmity that already exists, combined with the fact that both people have only recently got the hang of negotiating at all, the usual concerns over the availability of resources and the typical reticence of politicians to say that anyone else's ideas are valid will come into play.
The third area of unfamiliarity will be the running of their departments. Each of the new ministers will have to learn management skills - how to motivate their staff, how to ensure the tasks they are supposed to undertake are undertaken, how to deal with industrial relations problems and, most importantly how to delegate and to whom.
Of all of the tasks, or rather the skills they have to develop, this is the most important. They will need to examine the staff available to them, make judgments on their abilities and divide the work between them.
More than anything these people have to become expert administrators with the ability to deliver a concise and clear brief, have the support systems in place that ensure deadlines are not missed and develop close, trusting relationships with their senior civil servants.
We cannot expect this process to happen smoothly. Already we have had the DUP members refusing to attend the first Executive meeting. Let us hope they have made whatever point they thought they were making and are now willing to get on with the business of running Northern Ireland. There is no time to spare for this sort of gesture, the task is too huge, the prize too great to jeopardise it at this stage.
Maire Geoghegan-Quinn can be contacted at mgeoghegan@irish-times.ie