Eventually it was agreed on 25 September to submit further negotiations to a new sub-committee, a senior ‘Committee of Nine’ (close to O’Brien's proposal). By the end of this first phase Plunkett believed that ‘the discussion had been really fruitful in hardening the heart of the south and softening the head of the north’. Before adjournment of the Presentation Stage the Grand Committee was restructured to contain the most important and capable figures, Plunkett as an "ex officio" member, its secretary Lord Southborough, with the members falling into the following categories: