Ian Paisley was in a relaxed mood as Peter Robinson delivered his address at the weekend

Though they often amount to little more than backslapping bonanzas, Peter Robinson knew he had serious business to conduct at his party's annual conference at the weekend and didn't duck the task.

Thus the traditional quips and jokes were quickly left to one side for the DUP leader to deliver a subtly nuanced address which managed to strike several balances.

There were no crumbs of comfort for Sinn Fein or the British and Irish governments, who both sent observers, in terms of a timetable for completion of the final part of the devolution process — policing and justice — but Mr Robinson left no doubt he is up for a deal.

The slightly coded message to Sinn Fein seemed to be calm down, cease the sulking and talk of walking away and help create the space and atmosphere to allow the agreement to be completed.

And though the context for his address is effectively a pre-election period, particularly since last week's Queen's speech, the First Minister also challenged his own audience over the ‘zero sum game' of Ulster politics — ‘if it's good for them, it can't be good for us.

“Sometimes it's even worse,” he went on. “When we ask for something, the temptation is to retreat if the other side decide it might not be such a bad idea after all.”

With the party planning a wide consultation, which will lead to a final assessment on whether the handover should go ahead, it was significant that Mr Robinson said there was “something of this” in the ongoing unionist debate about policing and justice.

He wants the debate to continue — but without it.