Yesterday Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader and First Minister of the currently-suspended Northern Irish government David Trimble announced that he would rejoin the power-sharing executive alongside Sinn Fein, provided he receives majority support at the May 27 meeting of the 860-member Ulster Unionist Council. Events in Northern Ireland have taken on a new momentum since the May 6 announcement by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) that they would place their arms "beyond use" by sealing them in bunkers which would be periodically inspected by foreign arms inspectors. At first, this statement was met with considerable enthusiasm in the UK and Ireland, and the British government took steps to reinstate the home rule government in Northern Ireland that had been suspended in February because of a deadlock over arms decommissioning. The target date was set for May 22, and a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council was scheduled for May 20. In the past week and a half, however, a number of difficulties have arisen, particularly Unionist opposition to a number of proposed changes to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), Northern Ireland's police force, to make it more acceptable to all sections of the community, including a proposed name change to the Northern Ireland Police Service. British officials, especially Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson, have been working to address the Unionists's concerns without angering the Catholic and Nationalist communities by diluting what they regard as essential reforms. While it appears that David Trimble is now ready to reenter the government, the majority of his party clearly was not, and it was almost certain he would have lost the (now rescheduled) vote on May 20. He will now use this next week to privately and publicly lobby his party to take the risk with him and rejoin Sinn Fein in the power-sharing government. If he is successful, it may very well mark a new departure in Unionist politics; should he lose the vote, he would most probably lose the leadership of the party, gravely jeopardizing the immediate future of the peace process.