The new Stormont executive which was unveiled yesterday largely represents the logical outcome of an election which left the DUP and Sinn Fein with a firm grip on power and Alliance, the SDLP and the Ulster Unionists forming our first properly constituted opposition.
It is entirely appropriate that the two largest groups should divide the departments between them, with one key exception, leaving the smaller parties to scrutinise their performance and hold them to account.
The overall strength of the results obtained at the polls by the DUP and Sinn Fein cannot be questioned but there will be unease over the way in which what was obviously a sensitive vacancy in justice was eventually filled.
Arlene Foster made it abundantly clear that, despite the wider partnership arrangements, she would not tolerate a Sinn Fein member in the ministry, an approach which entirely undermines the spirit of the Fresh Start agreement from last November.
With Sinn Fein automatically exercising its counter-veto against any DUP nomination, the survival of the new administration suddenly became dependant on the emergence of an alternative candidate from a different background.
The independent unionist Claire Sugden was ultimately handed the opportunity at the age of 29, after an Assembly career which has barely stretched to two years and did not previously include any position of additional responsibility at Parliament Buildings.
She may well be a capable person in her own right but her selection was plainly based on her lack of an association with the main five Stormont parties rather than any wider electoral mandate.
It will be noted that, in an Assembly speech only eight months ago, she branded the prevailing structures as a house of cards which could only be enhanced by the removal of the `jokers at the top.’
She readily accepted the deal offered by the same `jokers’ yesterday and listened philosophically as they praised her record without referring to her most talked-about intervention.
An air of cynicism will inevitably surround the devolved proceedings for some time to come, and it will be up to individual ministers to demonstrate that they have the potential to make a real difference in the course of their work.
Enormous issues have to be addressed in a range of areas, including health, education and above all the economy and the creation of jobs during the coming term of office.
The list of real achievements compiled by the outgoing executive was, by common consent, a short one, and the entire community is entitled to expect that events will move in a much more positive direction without delay.
