Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald captured the building air of expectation in the party last weekend at its annual conference in Dublin.
With the party now the largest at Stormont and riding high in polls in the Republic, it seems only a matter of time before Sinn Fein enters government on both sides of the border.
"Change can't be stopped," declared Ms McDonald, who is considered on the cusp of becoming the first female Taoiseach.
