If they feel let down by the future Scottish resident of Downing Street, the Northern Ireland parties may conclude there is nothing to be lost by working closely together with Gordon Brown's bete noir, Mr Salmond.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Northern Ireland | When neighbours become good friends?

By working closely together, aerodynamicists and designers can determine the precise shape of the various bits of the car's body needed to ensure that the air slows down on all upper surfaces but speeds up on the under surfaces.

ECONOMIST: CAR DESIGN

In fact, emotion and reason work closely together, as has been demonstrated by Antonio Damasio, the man who revived Gage's 19th-century fame in the 20th century.

ECONOMIST: Emotion is essential to human survival

By acting so closely together Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern, the British and Irish prime ministers, have finally made credible the oft-repeated claim that there are no political gains to be obtained from further violence.

ECONOMIST: Beyond Omagh

The engineers all work very closely together in a project team, where we work closely together with all the departments to make the design, by that making the design for manufacturing.

FORBES: How Lego Makes Safe, Quality, Diverse and Irresistible Toys Everyone Wants: Part Two

The city's boosters claim that people were bonded more closely than ever to the Big Apple by the communal pulling together of the recovery effort.

ECONOMIST: New York city one year on

With the eurozone having done a deal which exceeded the prime minister's expectations, his attention is now shifting to how to ensure that Britain is not marginalised or constantly outvoted by the 17 eurozone countries which will in future work together much more closely.

BBC: Cameron: London under assault by Brussels