So little hope had been placed in Stormont talks that the publication of their format this week was a startling surprise.
The format points to a serious, structured endeavour, at least compared with previous efforts since devolution collapsed 2½ years ago.
The gist of those efforts had been to put Sinn Féin and the DUP in a room and wait for them to work out their differences – an approach that inevitably made their differences the whole of the agenda.
At first, all five main Stormont parties were involved in talks. Then the smaller three were overlooked as the primacy of a DUP-Sinn Féin deal subsumed everything.
Talks were officially chaired by the Northern secretary, James Brokenshire throughout 2017 and Karen Bradley thereafter.
In reality, parties did everything through bilateral meetings with each other and the chair, according to their own priorities.
The then minister for foreign affairs, Charlie Flanagan in the first half of 2017 and Simon Coveney thereafter, was present but carefully not described as co-chair, as that would apparently upset the DUP.
Most other parties were upset there was no independent chair, as hand-holding by an American diplomat had become the norm on these occasions.
Cold feet
The awkward truth about this haphazard horse-trading is that it almost worked. Sinn Féin and the DUP cobbled together a deal by themselves in February 2018, only for the DUP to get cold feet at the last minute.
The expectation for future talks was of aiming to repeat that near-success by simply applying a bit more pressure.
Northern Ireland's parties can be dangerously flattered by the attention of American diplomats
Last week's council elections in Northern Ireland supplied timely pressure, with Sinn Féin and the DUP barely managing to repeat their lacklustre performance in the previous 2014 council contest, with all gains going to Alliance and other centre parties.
Yet the approach announced jointly this week by the British and Irish governments is completely novel. Delegations from all five parties will attend talks broken down into five working groups, each with its own agenda and chaired by a current or former senior civil servant. Progress will be assessed at weekly round tables of the five party leaders, chaired by Bradley and Coveney. A final review will take place at the end of May by the prime minister and the Taoiseach.
In the middle of this will be a European election. That had seemed like a fatal distraction but the council results offer a faint hope it might just concentrate minds.
The agendas of the working groups are clever, even cunning, blending the DUP and Sinn Féin’s red lines in among broader concerns. If the big two come to terms, it will have to be in a more holistic fashion than their 2018 attempted carve-up.
One issue this addresses straight away is the imbalance between both parties. Sinn Féin has a much longer list of demands than the DUP. The unionist party has admitted its basic problem in talks to date has been finding enough to ask for in order to present a “balanced” outcome. That will be easier to disguise within a larger package.
Cynicism arises from previous three-week talks deadlines that were never enforced, a laxity for which Brokenshire became notorious
The use of Stormont officials as chairs is ingenious, providing expertise and focusing talks down on the practicalities of restoration. Northern Ireland’s parties can be dangerously flattered by the attention of American diplomats.
Agendas
The agendas of the working groups are: agreeing a programme for government that prioritises the public’s concerns of economic development, health and education; ensuring a transparent and accountable executive, which clearly references the fallout from the renewable heat incentive scandal; reform of the petition of concern, the Assembly veto mechanism that could unlock same-sex marriage and abortion without the DUP having to vote for them; rights, language and identity, addressing the key issue of an Irish language Act, for which there should also be an Assembly majority if the petition of concern is reformed; and improving the stability and sustainability of the Belfast Agreement institutions.
Sustainability could be crucial to giving the DUP balance. In previous talks, its biggest concern was preventing Sinn Féin collapsing Stormont again. The DUP believed this was a good enough horse to trade for an Irish language act, although it never mustered up the courage to make that case to its supporters.
Pessimism about the present talks has been based on the DUP and Sinn Féin’s unchanged red lines. There is now a prospect those lines could be blurred. Cynicism arises from previous three-week talks deadlines that were never enforced, a laxity for which Brokenshire became notorious. The latest deadline looks harder to fudge.
But if talks fail, as still seems far likelier than not, then what?
Both governments will need a credible plan B, which can only be direct rule with Dublin input, designed to be equally uncomfortable for the DUP and Sinn Féin. A later round of talks could then begin where the current one leaves off.
If that is done, it is entirely plausible this month can build towards success.