All the weekend indications were that negotiations have effectively been completed and Micheál Martin will be returning as taoiseach early in the new year, on the understanding that he will hand the post over to Simon Harris midway through the Dáil’s scheduled five-year term.
It is an arrangement which represents the logical continuation of the pact between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael which has been in place since 2020, and it cannot be disputed that it reflects the will of the Irish electorate.
The combination of the two parties, relying on the support of a small number of independents, should provide a reasonably stable administration, with the prospect of delivering progress on number of key fronts.
It is essential that the government’s priorities include facilitating the growing debate on Irish unity, even though it is clear that establishing options over the related timescales will be a complex process.
The document produced earlier this year by the Oireachtas all-party committee on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, recommending that preparations for a possible referendum should commence immediately, was a significant development.
Further reports are due to follow in the coming months, and can be expected to focus attention on the economic and social implications of the discussions which are firmly taking shape.
Pressure needs to be placed on the British government to accept that Brexit has fundamentally changed the wider climate and to clarify the notably vague circumstances in which a border poll can be called.
While Keir Starmer has so far displayed little interest in the issue, many Labour MPs take a different view, and it is up to the leaders of the main Irish parties to focus attention on the central arguments.
Mr Martin has always been a cautious figure, but he still deserves full credit for his long-term commitment to the Shared Island fund which has made both a symbolic and a practical difference in a range of areas.
He will be well aware that the unionist majority at Stormont is a thing of the past, and all the demographic trends are only taking us in one direction.
While the outcome of a referendum remains impossible to predict with any degree of certainty, it is likely to be decided by the votes of those who are not aligned to either of the main traditions.
They will be open to persuasion as more and more information about the relative merits of unity and the union is placed in the public domain.
Mr Martin has the opportunity to become the taoiseach who plays a historic role in resolving Ireland’s constitutional future, and his intentions will be closely studied in the coming months.
