The BBC's Ireland Correspondent Denis Murray: "Mr Mandelson brings no political baggage with him"

If there is one piece of truth about Northern Ireland, it is that the place never fails to surprise you.

There had been a feeling that Mo Mowlam might be about to move on, and the only name to date which had been bandied about here to replace her was that of Peter Mandelson.

But the speed with which the cabinet re-shuffle was carried out was positively supersonic.

And while, according to the Northern Ireland Office, Mr Mandelson will meet as "many parties as possible" on Tuesday, it is also a strong possibility that Mo Mowlam, back to say her farewells, may join him at the meetings with the parties as part of the handover.

The Ulster Unionists certainly do not regret Mo Mowlam moving on - for some time they have regarded her as part of the problem. But all parties have given at least a cautious welcome to Mr Mandelson's appointment.

That is because everyone knows how close to the prime minister he is. They therefore regard him as a heavy hitter, and so draw the conclusion that the government still has Northern Ireland at, or near the top, of its agenda.

Breaking the impasse

It is also possible that progress in the deadlocked process may be slightly easier under Peter Mandelson.

His lack of comment on the issue up to now leaves him free of baggage - no party has any particular grudge against him.

He may follow the government policy on the process, but as a new face, he is not as securely welded to it as Mo Mowlam surely was.

Even if the impasse is not broken, than the whiff of failure cannot attach itself to either him or Mo Mowlam.

'Politicians can get nasty'

That is because she has moved on, and because his fingerprints are completely off the policies that have brought us to this point.

Fiendishly clever of the government, eh?

Peter Mandelson may be delighted to be back in the cabinet, but Northern Ireland's problems are not just messy, and so far resistant to efforts to resolve them, but it is also true that the comments of politicians here can get personally nasty.

If there is another truth about Northern Ireland, it is that it has never been easy for the British politicians who have come to try and find any sort of way ahead, never mind the proverbial New Labour third way.