Children, particularly those in their last two years at primary school, can be breathtakingly imaginative, as if benefiting from a last flaring of enthusiasm before teen moodiness sets in.
Working with one group at a school in Hertfordshire, I received a genuine shock. Anyone who has the good fortune to visit schools and talk to classes quickly becomes used to surprises. One was that Mr Trimble was genuinely taken aback by the General’s downbeat performance and felt that he had not carried out his role as he had been expected to.The other theory is that Trimble supporters, having had their expectations raised by the big build-up, were dismayed to find he had extracted far less in the way of concessions from republicans than they had been led to believe.In this view of events the Ulster Unionist leader hardened his stance in response to pressure from his party.The transparency of decommissioning had been the subject of much negotiation in his contacts with Sinn Fein. Much, therefore, rested on the General giving a really impressive report.But when it came, he was his usual taciturn self, speaking quietly and with little sense of drama.When he had spoken observers said to each other: “Where’s the beef? Where’s the big boost that will win the election for Trimble?”The Ulster Unionist leader delayed giving his reaction before eventually emerging to criticise the General – rather than Sinn Fein – and to say his party was delaying its response until next week.Two theories immediately sprang up. It seemed that victory had finally been snatched from the jaws of defeat.Republicans, Unionists and the British and Irish governments then worked out an intricate choreography for yesterday’s events.Tony Blair was to start the day by announcing Assembly elections for 26 November, which he duly did. Clearly there has been a huge effort sponsored by Dublin and London to push David Trimble and Gerry Adams into an accommodation. The main impetus for such a movement, however, has been a fear of an upsurge in militant Unionism, both within Mr Trimble’s party, symbolised by figures such as David Burnside, and outside it, with Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party picking up support from disgruntled protestants.

New members would be elected, but without agreement there was little chance of an executive being formed.The result would simply be a variation of the existing vacuum, with a return to devolution impossible. If that happened then the process would be, in the graphic description of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, “goosed”.Violence has reduced considerably in recent months, but the two governments are nervous that in a continuing vacuum the peace process would eventually unravel. Their settled view is that the process must be underpinned by a solid political deal.So when the mood changed in the Trimble-Adams talks, and against the odds, an understanding emerged, hats were tossed in the air in London, Dublin and elsewhere. Events in Belfast yesterday proved that there is no such thing as certainty in the Irish peace process and that nothing can be taken for granted.
A few weeks ago the British and Irish governments were glumly resigned to announcing new Assembly elections despite the absence of any agreement between the Belfast parties.David Trimble and Gerry Adams had held many hours of talks but there was no breakthrough.

Their whole negotiating exercise seeming to confirm yet again that republicans and Unionists could not reach accord.The idea of an election without an agreement had some advantages, but it had many drawbacks too. The history of the art form is largely one of lively audience engagement and it was only in the hilltop temple of Bayreuth where the audiences were plunged into darkness and the orchestra hidden from view rather than being an essential bridge between stage and audience.In creating his festival Wagner reduced his audience from celebrants to observers. His performance conditions, which are now how we perform the entire repertoire, have robbed the audience-stage interaction of an exciting vitality and have produced a culture of comfort, familiarity and judgement.. In other words the performers thrust on a forestage in front of the proscenium arch shared space and light with their audience. We’re locked in a performing time warp with London’s two opera houses: both too large for classical and pre-classical repertoire, neither possessing the generous forestage appropriate for 19th century Italian repertoire. Moreover, both possess an essentially 19th century symphony orchestra and a chorus with the vocal training suitable for 19th century repertoire onwards. The vital continuing change and renewal which marked the art form’s first 250 years is straining at the leash.It’s worth remembering that until Wagner, opera was always performed with the house lights on, and indeed in Italy this continued throughout the entire 19th century.

The nightmare of Sinn Fein and the DUP topping the poll is a real one Mr Trimble had little room for manoeuvre as things stood. Without help from Sinn Fein and the IRA he felt he had no alternative but to strike a defiant pose. Mr Trimble may have been a little precipitate in his actions; but that is now a political fact. Republicans will have to adjust to it.Mr Trimble’s Ulster Unionist Council meets next Wednesday. It is, as ever, up to the IRA to do as Mr Trimble insists and Mr Adams suggests, and have the “wisdom and the will” to take the leap forward to lasting peace That task has acquired new urgency.. Why do our opera companies exist? Because they’re there? Because they have a payroll? Because they receive public subsidy? Or because they are the best way of serving this exciting art form and the taxpayer given the available money?

Why do our opera companies exist? Because they’re there? Because they have a payroll? Because they receive public subsidy? Or because they are the best way of serving this exciting art form and the taxpayer given the available money?
It is surely ironic that in such a climate it has taken the much-maligned Raymond Gubbay to offer London Mozart in a suitably sized theatre.

All very well, says Mr Trimble, but not nearly transparent enough Mr Blair called the denouement a “glitch” It may prove more serious than that. Bertie Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister, said that a resolution to the difficulty was “not obvious”.It must be a strange feeling for Mr Trimble to have a good portion of his political fortunes in the hands of Irish republicans, but that is precisely the position in which he and his allies now find themselves. Despite the determination in his voice yesterday, Mr Trimble still relies on the republicans delivering peace in his time. If the sort of mainstream Unionism represented by Mr Trimble is to survive these elections, let alone emerge again as the largest single party with Mr Trimble as First Minister, republicans will have to go further. They must show Mr Trimble’s electorate that his support for the peace process is delivering results for them. Specifically, that means that the sort of low-level terrorism that the paramilitaries on both sides still indulge in – the knee-cappings, the drug dealing, the protection rackets, the gangsterism – will now start to wither.The task of republicans, and the other paramilitaries, is to wind down their armouries and their activities so they can help Mr Trimble win back that sizeable slice of Unionist opinion that supported the Good Friday Agreement in the 1998 referendum, but which has since become badly disillusioned.These elections, long delayed, could not have been put off much longer without the whole political process lapsing into absurdity. Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Fein, could hardly have gone further in trying to reassure mainstream Unionist opinion in advance of the elections scheduled for 26 November.