THE list of signatories to the open letter to Leo Varadkar is a who's who of nationalist civil society, and getting them all on the same page cannot have been easy.
But this 'nationalist spring', this uprising of the people, has been a long time coming.
The collapse of the Stormont assembly almost a year ago, while expedited by the RHI scandal, was a result of several years of growing nationalist disharmony.
A perceived failure by unionists to embrace the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, seemingly treating Sinn Féin not as partners in government but as subordinates, was not playing well with the electorate.
It is also no coincidence that more than 40 high-profile members of the legal profession are among the 200-plus signatories, as implementation of legacy bodies and reform of the justice system are among the greatest failings of devolution.
Niall Murphy, Peter Madden, Kevin Winters, Patricia Coyle and Sinead Larkin are all lawyers working at the coal face of this outdated and under-resourced system and best placed to highlight its inadequacies.
The Brexit negotiations and the DUP/Tory deal have added to a feeling of isolation and under-representation of Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland.
The last few weeks have also highlighted the dangers of Sinn Féin being outside of the tent during key negotiations.
The taoiseach has been left to speak up for the small business owners and others who stand to be impacted most by the DUP's insistence that there be no 'special status'.
A week is a long time in politics, and while Sinn Féin looked to be playing an effective long game when it came to negotiating a deal at Stormont, there is surely now an urgency in getting back at the executive table and back in the game.
Some recent comments from the DUP do not inspire optimism, with Ian Paisley claiming to have put manners on the Irish government.
However, there will now be a push to get the Stormont talks back on track - for those who felt compelled to sign the letter to Leo Varadkar that will be a welcome move should it mean the substantive issues are addressed.
And while Ian Paisley, basking in his new-found influence at Westminster, may be in no rush, his party leader Arlene Foster at Stormont may well take a different view and be in the mood for a New Year compromise.
