Britain and Ireland vowed on Friday to press ahead with plans to restore self-rule to Northern Ireland after overcoming a first deadline despite a persistent row between Republican and Unionist parties.
But observers say the first real test will come later this month, when Catholic-backed Sinn Fein and firebrand preacher Ian Paisley's pro-London Democratic Unionists (DUP) have to begin putting the accord into practice.
London and Dublin said they were satisfied with responses from all parties to the St Andrews Agreement, hammered out last month in a bid to restore power-sharing in the long-troubled province four years after it was suspended.
The accord foresees a series of deadlines -- the first of which passed on Friday, November 10 -- for parties gradually to restore self-rule in Belfast, aiming for the government to be in place next March 26.
"We are satisfied from these contacts (with the parties) that the St Andrews Agreement, implemented in good faith, represents the basis for a political settlement," said a joint statement by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain.
The promise of self-rule was among the main planks of the landmark 1998 Good Friday agreement, which largely ended three decades of "the Troubles", in which over 3,500 people died, many at the hands of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
But self-rule was suspended in 2002 after allegations of an IRA spy ring at Stormont Castle, the Belfast seat of administration, and the province has been under direct rule from London ever since.
In theory, the St Andrews accord opens the way for a revival of power-sharing in less than six months' time.
But a key sticking point is the refusal by main Republican party Sinn Fein to support the Police Service for Northern Ireland (PSNI) -- a successor to the Protestant-dominated Royal Ulster Constabulary.
Paisley's Democratic Unionists agreed a party resolution late on Thursday vowing to continue to try to implement the St Andrews accord.
But it underlined that the policing row is far from over. "The refusal by Sinn Fein even to begin giving support to the PSNI, the courts and the rule of law has clear adverse implications for the timetable laid out at St Andrews," it said.
Other veterans of the seemingly never-ending Northern Ireland peace process agreed.
"We can't get round the fact that the issue of policing has to be resolved," said Jonathan Caine, a former Northern Ireland Office advisor. "If Sinn Fein don't agree, direct rule from Westminster will sadly be maintained," he added.
Under the timetable set out in the St Andrews Agreement, the British government will immediately begin drawing up legislation to implement the accord.
Then, on November 24, the Belfast assembly will meet to nominate a first minister and deputy first minister -- widely expected to be Paisley and Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness.
But observers say that Paisley will refuse to take office with McGuinness if Sinn Fein has not made unconditional commitments to supporting the police.
The British and Irish governments agreed that, despite passing Friday's first milestone, they have little reason for celebration.
"There is much to be done and there is a responsibility on all to play their part. We will work actively with the parties to complete this task and clear the way for a new era for the people of Northern Ireland," they said.