There was no avoiding the voices or the faces of David Trimble and Ian Paisley on radio and television yesterday, as one firmly argued and the other firmly thundered their positions on the Hillsborough proposals.
They were featured prominently on BBC radio and television, UTV and Downtown Radio. But one tuned to David Dunseith's noontime Talkback programme on BBC Radio Ulster to hear the opinion from the pundits and the punters.
The political commentator, Eric Waugh, had a novel take on why the Ulster Unionist Council should vote Yes on Saturday. The alternative was the Republic enjoying "secret" influence on Northern Ireland affairs. That was the road to perdition in Eric's view.
If Ulster Unionists didn't do the deal it would be a case of an Anglo-Irish Agreement Mark II. And who would want the scandal-hit Republic with an unaccountable say in Northern affairs, while unionists looked on helplessly?
Take a "look at recent events" south of the Border, he advised the UUC's 860 delegates. "They were such that if Jeffrey Archer had invented them any publisher would throw them out as utterly fantastical."
He added: "This is a league our politicians, however worldly-wise, are not used to playing in, and we hope they don't want to. But if the Unionist Council sinks the Executive, this is the culture they will be inviting in with no power to do anything about it."
Pro-agreement unionist George Cooper agreed with Eric's view. Dr Paisley could talk of David Trimble "frogmarching Ulster" into a united Ireland, but were unionists to reject this deal they would be "just one step away from a united Ireland". The DUP should be called the "Destroy Ulster Party", he said.
Other unionists, though, were decidedly of a different frame of mind. David Trimble could talk of unionism being consigned to the wilderness but, said a Portadown caller, "unionism is going into the political wilderness" if it followed the wisdom of the UUP leader. "If they were handing out Oscars for manifesto promises that were not kept, the Ulster Unionists would have a clean sweep," he snorted.
Jean Coulter, a UUC member, would definitely be voting No on Saturday. Ulster Unionists wanted arms up front, but where were the arms? What was in the IRA statement amounted to a fairy tale.
"And I don't believe in fairy tales," said Jean.
While unionists bickered there were soundings from republicans that any tampering with the Hillsborough proposals could scupper the IRA statement. The evening news programmes reported the briefing from a "senior Sinn Fein source" that any undermining of Patten could threaten the whole deal.
In the morning, however, the man himself, Chris Patten on BBC radio, provided some comfort for those in Sinn Fein, the SDLP and the Irish Government who have fears of a concession too far on policing.
"If you are going to get a police service which young Catholics as well as young Protestants, and young people with no particular religious affiliation, are going to join, then it can't be identified with the central political argument in Northern Ireland. And it is as simple as that," said Mr Patten.
But what would you expect from Chris Patten? After all he is a Catholic, as one south Down caller implicitly noted on Talkback. "We are being asked to trust David Trimble, a man who welcomed Chris Patten's appointment knowing that Chris Patten's idea of a neutral place is having a life-size crucifix in his office."
Peter from Cloughmills in Co Antrim said the answer to all the problems was to "root out terrorism" by British military strength. But, Peter complained, "Tony Blair is more concerned in promoting homosexuality than he is in dealing with terrorism."
Bitter, and it'll get more bitter by week's end.
