Now, there was a ceasefire of sorts.

Both men had every reason to be on their best behaviour. It was a fabulous day for Sinn F�in and the DUP as the votes rolled in and the North moved nearer to becoming a two-party state.

Martin McGuinness arrived first, surrounded by his bodyguards. Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers kept a distinct but discreet presence. The police CCTV van was there too, just in case. Ballymena is hardline loyalist.

It wasn't needed. "You're in the wrong town.

You're not welcome here!" two men shouted as McGuinness entered the building, but that's positively polite by Ballymena standards.

Sun rises for Paisley "Historic site. Near here stood Ballymena Castle, built 1860s, demolished 1950s. A loss lamented by the people, " declared the sign outside the count centre.

The DUP leader, nearly as old as the demolished castle, swept to the door. He looked like an avenging angel in his black fedora and great coat. But he brought light: "The sun is rising and the stars are setting, " he said, hailing his party's huge vote.

So would he form an executive with Sinn F�in by 26 March? - "There will be serious talks with the government. Until now, it's been shadow-boxing. But Ian Paisley is concerned about getting it right, not calendar dates."

He dismissed the idea that the British prime minister would put unbearable pressure on him:

"Tony Blair is a weak man, I'm an iron man.

When the two get into the ring, you know who will win and who will lose!"

Gerry Adams might have said one thing on policing but "that lady politician" (Michelle Gildernew) said something else, and "that fellow from North Belfast" (Gerry Kelly), something different again. Martin McGuinness was "a reprobate" - "a double reprobate, " added Ian Paisley jnr.

Did the DUP leader think that, at 80, he should procrastinate over a deal? "I want to be First Minister but not at any price, and I intend to live a very long life. I don't smoke or drink.

"I talk with God and I read the bible every day.

I pray for Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. I don't want to see people in hell, I want them converted to God. I even pray for a very hard-nosed female journalist!"

Eileen Paisley was elegant in pearl earrings, a purple jacket, and suede gloves. Someone handed her flowers. A Sinn F�in man wore an Easter Lily in his lapel.

The smiles never left Sinn F�in faces as their three candidates were elected on the first count in Mid-Ulster. It was just as good elsewhere. Sinn F�in won 63% of nationalist votes in the North.

The DUP steamroller was equally ruthless, decimating both the Ulster Unionists and hardline rivals. "Yes! Bob's gone!" declared Paisley jnr as a phone call came from North Down saying UK Unionist leader Robert McCartney had lost his seat.

The only thing that could have dented DUP spirits was the prospect of Sinn F�in newcomer Daith� McKay (25) topping the North Antrim poll where the DUP vote had been carefully split in an attempt to win four seats. In the end, the Doc triumphed by over 600 votes. "We beat the Shinners!" he roared as the result was declared, and Eileen kissed him.

There's still passion in the Paisley marriage.

Earlier in the canteen, Eileen was stroking his leg.

"Sure, it's better than playing footsie under the table!" she said.

Down the road at the Newry and Armagh count, Sinn F�in was victorious under its future leader, Conor Murphy. The predicted SDLP resurgence never came and that party's bright young hope, Sharon Haughey, wasn't elected.

"In life, if something's not meant for you, it's not meant for you. If you can't handle defeat, you shouldn't be in politics, " said Haughey (25). "We live to fight another day."

Loyalist Willie Frazer was eliminated early. "If the Provies didn't put the wind up me with AK47s, I'll hardly be knocked by losing a few votes, " he said. "Willie Frazer hates the IRA so much, he'd dig up the bodies of dead volunteers so they could be shot again, " complained a republican.

Up in Derry, counting was slow. A radio journalist asked SDLP leader Mark Durkan if there was "any white smoke coming from Foyle?"

"No, but there's a white flag, " quipped a Shinner as the SDLP vote fell elsewhere.

Independent collapse Independent republicans polled woefully in all constituencies except Foyle, and Newry and Armagh, where Davy Hyland secured 2,188 votes, positioning himself for a super-council seat.

Polling 1,789 votes in Foyle, Peggy O'Hara - whose son died on hunger-strike, declared:

"Patsy would have been proud of me. Let the fight go on! Our political campaign will continue."

In North Antrim, ex-IRA prisoner Paul McGlinchey - whose brother Dominic was the murdered INLA chief-of-staff - polled 383 votes to Sinn F�in's 7,065. "I'm disappointed and my pride is hurt but, by standing, I haven't let my dead comrades down, " he said.

"Republicanism died in this election. The people voted for peace and stability, not for a united Ireland. This vote sends a message to the Continuity IRA and Real IRA. There's no mandate for your campaign."

McGlinchey said McGuinness had shook his hand warmly at the count centre, but he'd been spat on by "a Sinn F�in draft-dodger" when canvassing in Ballymena. He also claimed PSNI harassment: "They accused me of acting suspiciously outside polling stations. I was canvassing. Then, they wanted to search my van. 'Do you think I've the A-Team in the back?' I asked. 'We don't know what to expect, from a McGlinchey!'

they said."

The independent republican vote showed the vast majority of the nationalist community have no problem endorsing the PSNI and believe Sinn F�in was right to do so.

The famous five In Belfast, a relaxed Gerry Adams shared sweets with supporters as counting continued into the wee small hours. As Sinn F�in took an amazing five of six West-Belfast seats, party activists took pictures of the 'famous five' on their mobile phones.

Adams praised everyone who had contested the election - "the vanquished and the victors." He hugged Alliance's Anna Lo, clapped DUP speakers, joined in the whooping when new Progressive Unionist leader Dawn Purvis held David Ervine's seat.

Political correctness went out the window with a chorus of PUP wolf-whistles and shouts of "You go girl!" Ervine's framed photograph was raised.

"I want to pay tribute to a woman who couldn't be here tonight, " said Purvis. "Her name is Jeanette Ervine, and she tramped the streets canvassing with us, even though her heart was broke.

"David has been with us every step of the way too. He's smiling down now, saying 'Well done PUPs!'" A burly PUP supporter held aloft a mobile phone during the speech. "Did you hear all that Jeanette?" he said after Purvis finished.

Alliance leader David Forde mildly chided journalists for writing off his party. Alliance votes, previously lent to the UUP to ward off the DUP, had returned after it became obvious the UUP was a busted flush.

Reg Empey's party was slaughtered, losing a third of votes and seats. In normal circumstances, he'd be forced to resign, but there's no one credible to take over. The only possibility, Alan McFarland, lost his North Down seat.

There's no way back for the party once led by a Nobel Prize winner.

"Empey's as lightweight as a Big Brother wannabe, " declared DUP Upper Bann campaign manager David McConaghie. "Empey had two chances of leading the UUP to success: 'slim' and 'none', and slim's just ridden out of town, " said Assembly member Stephen Moutray. "In the next election, the vet will come to put the UUP out of its misery, " said a DUP figure.

Elsewhere, a DUP activist denounced hardline loyalists, who had accused the party of treachery, as "cranks, crazies and the tin-foil hat brigade - some of those boys have three thumbs".

SDLP at a loss It was a disastrous election for the SDLP which, unlike the UUP, had reorganised and fought a good campaign. What on earth does it do now?

It doesn't matter that the SDLP is often more rigorous than Sinn F�in on MI5 and other issues.

The electorate's perception is that those who fought the British state in the war are better at holding it to account during the peace.

Sinn F�in took everything republican dissidents and the SDLP threw, and was still unstoppable. It must be winning almost every young voter coming on the register.

Anecdotal evidence indicates it lost many traditional supporters, but this has been more than compensated by new middle-class voters, impressed with its policy change on policing.

The gap between the nationalist parties has widened from 7% in the Westminster elections to 11%. When three SDLP MPs were elected in 2005, it appeared the haemorrhaging of the party's vote to Sinn F�in would stop.

That hasn't happened and, barring some internal Sinn F�in disaster, it's now hard to see the SDLP preventing further slippage, let alone reversing losses. Sinn F�in seems poised to grow further in South Down, North Belfast, Upper Bann and East Derry.

For the SDLP, it's a vicious circle. People like winners and the more successful a brand Sinn F�in becomes, the more people will vote for it.

With four ministers in any Executive, to the SDLP's one, it will also have a huge PR advantage.

In some ways, Sinn F�in success is more basic:

the bigger the DUP becomes, the more nationalists vote for "their big party" to stand up to unionism. Sinn F�in and the DUP have a symbiotic relationship: they need each other to survive.

Facing the future Nobody doubts a deal will be done, but a fully functioning executive within a fortnight seems unlikely.

"It would take something very dramatic from Sinn F�in to reassure us of its policing credentials, " says a DUP figure. "I don't think even Conor Murphy in a PSNI uniform in the square in Crossmaglen telling young Catholics to join up would do it."

A halfway house arrangement - a shadow executive so Blair can leave office in the summer claiming he has brought peace to Ireland, and keeping the glory from Gordon's beat - is an option.

Paisley might be prepared to move faster than others such as MEP Jim Allister, but that would risk heightening internal tensions. A fully functioning executive by the autumn might be a compromise.

There's one person whose counsel the DUP leader will seek.

"She's my Chancellor of the Exchequer and my Prime Minister, " he said. "Eileen tells me when to come and go, and when to pay up, and she reads me a lecture every night - all the things I shouldn't have done." "And should have done!"

quipped Eileen.

Meanwhile, Paisley is enjoying the fruits of what might have been his last election: "Nobody will admit it but, when I disappear from politics, you will all miss me because there'll be no craic!"