As an indication of the changes which have swept across politics in Northern Ireland, it may be useful to recall two election slogans from rather less than 20 years ago.
The message on the DUP's posters at that time was 'Smash Sinn Féin', while the republican party said its dictum was 'Smash Stormont'.
Not only has the DUP failed to destroy Sinn Féin, it has been forced to watch as the republicans became the second largest party in Northern Ireland and the majority voice within nationalism.
Sinn Féin's rise has even allowed it to capture an Assembly seat in DUP leader Ian Paisley's home constituency of North Antrim.
However, events have hardly worked out as Sinn Féin initially envisaged after the party moved away from its previous policy of abstentionism in the early 1980s.
A return to devolved government at Stormont is now a central part of republican thinking, with Sinn Féin representatives intending to play a key role within any new executive.
The DUP is equally keen to take on ministerial responsibilities, but the great irony is that, without an arrangement with Sinn Féin, this simply will not happen.
Although the SDLP and the Ulster Unionists also have a major contribution to make towards this process, it is inevitable that most attention will focus on attempts to develop some form of relationship between the DUP and Sinn Féin.
The DUP, while hotly denying that it is split over the issue, has certainly managed to send out some confusing signals.
Lagan Valley MLA Edwin Poots, during an RTE interview on Thursday night, said that, if republicans dispensed with their paramilitary wing, they could be treated in the same way as the members of other political parties.
However, Mr Paisley is on record as demanding the disbandment not only of the IRA but also of Sinn Féin.
Grabbing a UTV reporter by the lapels on Thursday afternoon, he declared that any member of his party who engaged in talks with Sinn Féin would be immediately expelled.
DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson appeared to place himself somewhere between those two positions yesterday (Friday), when he said that, while he was not planning to negotiate with Sinn Féin, neither could he deliver the destruction of the republican party.
If republicans really do take decisive steps to put their entire arsenal beyond use, some intriguing political manoeuvres could follow over the coming months.
