Flotsam and Jetsam
That's what we are, just journalistic pieces of debris lobbying around on the peaks and troughs of expectation from these talks.
After a night and a morning of optimism, the late afternoon feels more pessimistic. Sinn Fein's negotiators returned to the castle amidst rumours of a wobble amongst republicans over the proposed reforms on parading.
The DUP leader Peter Robinson came to the microphone with a sober message that he wouldn't sign off on any deal until he was satisfied it was right and that people here would be gutted if the process was brought down, but that he didn't believe collapse should be the outcome if there was no deal today.
The few are now predicting that the prime ministers will be en route any time soon and these negotiations could well go on into the night.
The Ulster Unionists haven't turned up at all today - their leader Sir Reg Empey was busy explaining his role in last months talks with the DUP at Orange Order headquarters to his huddled Tory partner Owen Patterson.
However senior Ulster Unionist sources say that even if there is a deal the party will not endorse it. Instead, they are expected to say that because they did not negotiate the agreement they will have to take it away and examine it before coming to a view.
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