The British prime minister has put the DUP under pressure this evening by indicating that she will prepare to vacate the role of Prime Minister if she gets her meaningful vote through the House of Commons.
In London, some DUP members had built up expectations that the party would issue a statement at teatime, outlining its position.
But following Theresa May's statement to the Conservative Party's 1922 Committee during which she outlined her stand aside proposal, the possibility of a DUP statement this evening ended.
Earlier in the day, the DUP's sole member of the European Parliament, Diane Dodds stated in Strasbourg that the DUP was not minded to change its policy of opposing Theresa May's draft Withdrawal Bill.
The DUP MEP was confirming her party's assessment that Theresa May would not attract the 75 votes required to succeed at what would be her third attempt. She was also outlining how the DUP continues to have deep-rooted misgivings about the content of the proposed bill.
But Mrs May's 1922 Committee speech has at the very least persuaded the DUP to review its options. RTÉ News understands that contacts between the DUP and the prime minister took place in the hours before she addressed her Conservative party MPs. Those private communications are likely to continue as Mrs May weighs up whether she will seek to bring her Brexit plan before the House of Commons for a third time on Friday.
It's an awkward situation for the DUP. Does the party continue to conspicuously oppose a prime minister who is prepared to resign as the price of getting her deal through?
Or does it stick to the line that this is a matter of policy difference and the party's stance cannot change, regardless of the very personal plea of a political leader in the final phase of her career?
Theresa May certainly didn't envisage she would find herself in this situation when she called a snap general election in 2017.
Nor did the DUP anticipate its unprecedented influence at Westminster would bring with it such scrutiny and difficult choices.
